Not of either world
by Lyrium eidolon
Summary: A geth ship with a silver-haired boy crashes on an uncharted world. How will the inhabitants of that planet react to their strange new visitors, and how will their strange new visitors react to them?
1. Chapter 1: Before the Tragedy

Author's note: Greetings, this is my first story, based on one scenario that I find interests me quite a lot. I am not too sure how it will turn out, so please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either Final Fantasy 13 or Mass effect. This is a fictional piece of writing done by a fan.

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Chapter 1: Before the tragedy.

Somewhere, deep within the unforgiving Terminus Systems, were 2 uncharted worlds. These planets were completely cut off from the greater galaxy. Names like "turian hierarchy", "asari Consort", "genophage" and "Citadel Council" meant absolutely nothing to whatever lived on these worlds. In fact, to the creatures of the first world (which had the name "Gran Pulse") even words like "politician" and "scandal" meant absolutely nothing, due to the fact that they were mostly savage beasts. The second world, called Cocoon, could be found in orbit around Gran Pulse, was populated by humans and featured a big hole punched into the side by something. According to these people, the "something" was the beast Ragnarok, although to someone from another part of the galaxy, it would have to be a mystery (If said someone was one Commander Shepard, however, there would probably be a theory that maybe a Reaper was involved, possibly Sovereign, or maybe even Harbinger, as only a Reaper could possibly possess the firepower needed to puncture a planet's surface.)

The planets Gran Pulse and Cocoon would remain hidden from the wider galaxy until the crash-landing of a mysterious ship on the surface of the latter, about 6 months before a catastrophic event called "the Purge" would happen. The ship was unlike any the inhabitants of Cocoon had seen. It had almost no color to it, just a dark grey color with black areas that seemed to outline the individual pieces of the hull that had been used to construct the ship. It didn't seem to have any visible mechanism that enabled flight, and the ship itself looked disturbingly like some sort of living creature.

The ship crashed in the Felix Heights area of Palumpolum and that area was quarantined for a month by the Sanctum. Even after that, the people were afraid to go anywhere near it, save for one married couple: Bartholomew and Nora Estheim, who went there after another month. They were the first people to go to the crash site to actually study what fell from the sky. At the same time, after confirming that the quarantine was over, the passengers of that wreck decided to investigate outside. When the Estheims were right next to the wreck, what appeared to be a strange circular door started turning and then opened. The first figure to emerge was a small boy with silver hair and blue-green eyes who seemed to be intrigued by the strange environment around him, and fainted a minute after exiting his transport. The second and final figure to emerge was quite an unnerving one. A neck that seemed to be bent at an angle, an eye that shone a bright blue, hands with only 3 fingers, feet with only 3 toes, arms and legs that seemed too unnatural to possibly be real, with one arm accommodating part of a set of armor and, worst of all, was this creature's torso. It had a big hole in it and what looked like glowing tubes could be seen inside. It seemed to look at its companion, then at Bartholomew and Nora, and then it spoke. The voice sounded quite eerie as well, it completely lacked any emotion at all. "We require temporary accommodation at your place of residence. Co-operation is highly recommended!" it said. Not knowing what else to do, Bartholomew and Nora agreed to let the confusing child and the mysterious machine stay at their house, which was just bordering the crash site.

Bartholomew felt a very strong urge to alert PSICOM to these strange new presences, but who knew what they were capable of, so better to play it safe. He did demand an introduction and explanation when the 4 of them got home and the child regained consciousness. When this happened, he introduced himself as "Hope" from the human colony of Eden Prime, which confused the married couple. The only Edens they knew of was the capital city of Eden and the fal'Cie Eden, so what in Cocoon was Eden Prime? Hope himself seemed pretty confused. What was a fal'Cie? How come these people don't know about the rest of the galaxy, especially one of the most successful human colonies? He never even thought that just one inhabited Terminus Systems world could be so isolated. He wondered how humans could have even managed to colonize Cocoon if they didn't even know some of the other colonies like Eden Prime, Mindoir, and Feros, or places like the Citadel, or at very least Omega, considering the region of space. His companion also seemed confused, although you could never tell with it. The companion identified itself as "Legion, a terminal of the geth", and, when asked why they couldn't use their ship, stated that they cannot stay in the ship as the amount of food is dangerously low. Questions became even more questions as each party wanted to know something relating to the other one. "What is a fal'Cie?", "What are the geth?", "What is this Morning War?", "What is this War of Transgression?" and so on. Eventually, a bit of an understanding was reached, that went along the lines of "They are different to us, we will just have to deal with it."

Bartholomew and Nora, to try and avoid arousing suspicion, took Hope under their wing and claimed ownership of Legion until a point in time when they could repair their ship and leave Cocoon. Bartholomew had a job at the Sanctum, what appeared to be the only major form of leadership on the planet, so he could keep them off the backs of the little family they had formed. Nora could help Hope and Legion with any of the strange concepts of Cocoon. Hope got a bit of a job fixing mechanical problems in a variety of appliances, vehicles and other things to try and acquire some money with which to pay rent for him and Legion staying and at the same time use the job to acquire unwanted parts to get their ship working. Legion dealt with any problems relating to housework (although it seemed to object, saying its talents were better suited elsewhere) and actually repairing the spaceship with the spare parts Hope could bring home.

After 4 months of acquiring spare parts and the occasional research project into an alien aspect of this planet, the crashed ship was nearly completely repaired. To celebrate, Nora offered to take Hope to a city called Bodhum because it had a nice fireworks festival at this particular time of year, and witnessing such a spectacle would surely be an appropriate reward for someone that has undergone a period of such long hard work. In case anyone asked, she, Nora Estheim, was taking her son, Hope Estheim, to see the fireworks. Legion, uninterested in the concept of observing a display of colorful lights created by gunpowder explosions, remained behind with Bartholomew, and it was probably better that way, as having him in a crowd would surely create confusion at best, panic at worst.

Little would Hope know that the trip would result in epic failure until it was too late…


	2. Chapter 2: During the Tragedy: Part 1

**Author's note**: Just a warning: this chapter may contain spoilers for FF13. I also hope you enjoy this chapter

**Response to reviews**: well, review (at time of writing there was only one review)

Exodiano:At this stage, I am not too sure what Hope is, although I think I will rule out Infiltrator as he doesn't use guns. I was thinking maybe Engineer, but until I decide whether Hope will have biotics or not, Sentinel (ME2) will remain a possible option. To answer your other questions; I think a Warp, while it will do a bit of damage, will probably add 50% to the enemy's chain gauge, and I think an Overload will deal lightning damage to everything, but more will be done to synthetics, who will also suffer plus 100% to their chain gauge and will take double damage if already staggered, so it should indeed fry something in Barthandelus.

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Chapter 2: During the Tragedy: Part 1.

In Palumpolum: Some aspects of Cocoon didn't make any sense whatsoever to Legion. With regard to power generation, there was only 1 power plant, and although it seemed quite efficient, it was still incomprehensible how that one little power plant could provide electricity for an entire planet. There was also something else to note: if anyone on Cocoon were to rise up against the Sanctum, that location would be the first target for a surgical strike and, according to one Sanctum record that Legion managed to hack into, it had suffered through one already. Another primary target would be the Palumpolum fal'Cie due to the fact that it produced all of Cocoon's food, and once you take away the enemy's food supply, you have severely weakened them unless they happen to not be organic, and most, if not all of Cocoon's forces were organic beings.

On the night of the Bodhum Fireworks Festival, Legion hacked into the Sanctum again, looking for more information on a number of topics, and found an interesting order. It went along the lines of "Pulse fal'Cie found in Bodhum area. City is possibly contaminated. Initiate Purge the morning after fireworks festival." Legion knew that Nora and Hope were there, and they needed to be warned, but they were probably in a deep sleep by the time it found the order so it probably wouldn't be able to warn them and even if the geth could, they would be so exhausted that they wouldn't remember the warning the following morning.

In Bodhum: Nora and Hope awoke to the invasion of what, to the latter, looked like some sort of Eclipse mercenary, but it couldn't really be Eclipse, because this planet was isolated from the rest of the galaxy, so it had to be one of the local organizations, maybe PSICOM. Hope, not knowing what _really _happened, assumed that the invaders were there for him. He thought that someone in the Sanctum must have made the connection between him and the crashed geth ship, and found him in this city. Upon seeing the number of other people that, like him and Nora, were being forced onto one train in a strange garb, he wondered how he could have caused such a commotion. However, he also started to think that maybe there was something else going on. What exactly was going on wasn't clear to him until a point much later on, but until that time came, he assumed that his first theory was correct.

When that time came, however, he was in a state of shock. Although everyone that was part of the forced evictions by these soldier-types was rescued, Nora Estheim had fallen. Hope had a bad feeling in his stomach the moment Nora decided to fight alongside the rebels that rescued them. He didn't want her to leave him for a number of reasons. Firstly, despite the fact that the 2 of them being a mother and son was just a cover, Hope was genuinely becoming attached to Nora. His true mother and father were killed during the raid on Eden Prime by geth that Legion labeled as heretics. The last Hope saw of his family was when both of his parents were impaled on giant spikes undergoing an extremely horrid transformation. And now, the closest thing he had to a mother was falling to her death.

Secondly, although it didn't really matter now that the geth ship was ready to lift off, Bartholomew would surely sell Hope and Legion out to the Sanctum. That thought only just registered in Hope's mind as he was in shock, due to the death of someone close for a third time. It seems like whatever was out there, be it the Maker, the Goddess or the Enkindlers, was deliberately sabotaging his life. All Hope could think about was this new tragedy, until something hard, but not too hard, connected with his face. The next thing he knew was that he was following a woman to what looked like a gathering of other refugees.

This woman was quite strange, as she, unlike just about everyone else on Cocoon, seemed to possess a sense of concern for him that went beyond the usual "get these people out of harm's way" drive that he saw in their so-called rescuers. This was made even more apparent when she pulled him into an embrace; it was almost like she could feel his pain and wanted to try and help him deal with it. This act had surprised Hope quite a bit, as nobody else seemed to notice him or his suffering at all, so the fact that this person had at least a sense of sympathy for him was a very good reason to stay around her, although he never knew that doing so would eventually take things from bad to worse.

Hope never knew that following this girl, who called herself Vanille, would get him involved in a big local affair that would change his life. When that moment came, and he awoke in Lake Bresha after a disastrous attack on one of these fal'Cie creatures, he knew that his luck had taken a turn for the worst. There was a strange tattoo on his wrist that he didn't remember having before, proof of this major reversal of fortune, proof of what had just happened to him. He couldn't believe that he had gotten what was probably the second worst thing in the universe just below the genophage! And all because of these three people, the first being probably some sort of elite mercenary type judging from her custom made device that could switch from being a bladed to a projectile weapon and vice versa, the second being the idiot fist-fighter whose mercenary gang rescued the Purge victims and led Nora to her eventual death, and the third being a black man who appeared to have a nest in his hair. There was also that girl that Hope saw crystallize moments ago. He also held her responsible, because it almost seemed like she became a servitor of this fal'Cie specifically to make his life and the lives of others a living hell.

He was, however, able to keep most of these opinions in check, with the exception of who he thought was to blame, but at least they just assumed that he was extremely traumatized by becoming a Pulse l'Cie. The only question he was really asked was about the vision that he had prior to waking up. He actually found it quite disturbing: what looked like tentacles of some sort were erupting from what looked like a surface of some kind. The only thing he knew had anything close to tentacles was what had attacked Eden Prime and cost him his family: the Reaper Sovereign, or as Legion called it, Nazara. Hope didn't tell them this, as he would sound insane and besides, he felt he couldn't tell anyone, not even Vanille, about who he really is, or his past. With these people's obsession with xenophobia, Hope would probably be left to die somewhere… at best. No, nobody else could ever know who he really was, better he keep on masquerading as a child of Cocoon, this broken Terminus systems rock.

Back home, Legion found out about Hope's fate during a hack into PSICOM when the latter was in the Vile Peaks. It quickly came to a consensus on what to do: it would have to lock down the Felix Heights hideout until Hope got back home, whereupon it would escape from this rock once and for all to resume its primary objective. But due to the current circumstances of its partner being chosen as a Pulse l'Cie, a fight with Sanctum warships would probably ensue during the second phase of the current objective, and while the geth had a pretty good idea of the Sanctum's military capabilities, it needed to know now where they were deployed so as to choose the path of least resistance off the planet.

The next day, Legion detected many "Havoc Skytank" frigates in Palumpolum. It made an assumption that was confirmed later in the day by a Sanctum broadcast: Hope had managed to return to the city, and it also knew, due to the rescue effort that was unwittingly shown on said broadcast, what sort of company to expect. No further information about Hope was broadcast since that time, so the only thing Legion could really do was hack into the Sanctum reports involving him. The information found led the geth to assume that there will eventually be a siege at Felix Heights, which also concerned Bartholomew, who promptly began preparations to evacuate. He had just finished when the doorbell rang. Legion knew who the visitors were, due to having received a message on its omni-tool, and subsequently opened the door to find Hope and his 3 companions.

The first thing Hope said was: "Legion, we may have a problem…"


	3. Chapter 3: During the Tragedy: Part 2

**Author's Note:** Good news and bad news. The good news is that I finally figured out what class Hope is (I won't spoil it here). The bad news is that I hit a bit of a problem. I had intended this chapter to be longer, but I cannot progress due to said problem, so I have uploaded what I have done in the meantime. Also there may be FF13 spoilers in this chapter.

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Chapter 2: During the Tragedy: Part 2

Legion looked at Hope, noticing how panic started to show on his face. It decided to let him and his companions into the house (or otherwise, it concluded, they would have forced their way in by means of their l'Cie abilities) and then took Hope to Bartholomew whereupon it began questioning him.

"Explain your emotional unease, Hope Estheim," it commanded, to which the panicking child responded: "Firstly, Mom's gone," (Bartholomew promptly broke down) "and secondly, these people probably know about me now. Nothing really says 'Not from Cocoon' like a geth receiving 3 locals at its hideout, so at best I will probably be Purged…again! As for the worst case scenario… let's just say… I'll get at least 3 extra holes in me." Legion doubted this. "Chance of a Purge scenario being initiated by companions against Hope Estheim is negligible as companions are also branded Gran Pulse l'Cie and would therefore have a 100 percent chance of joining the Purge scenario alongside you. We also observed closely the reactions of companions to the sight of us and we concluded that the 2 out of the 3 who were conscious only displayed signs of shock at our appearance yet no intent to murder Hope Estheim. Even if the unconscious companion displays aggressive behavior, he is physically compromised and can therefore be killed quickly"

"There are more serious concerns than the probability of betrayal by Hope Estheim's companions," Legion then stated. Hope agreed, and immediately told Bartholomew that he and his l'Cie companions would just rest up, then leave, and was about to explain that if the Sanctum found out that one of their own employees was sheltering l'Cie, there would be trouble, when he was cut off halfway through his explanation. "You're my son! This is your home," Bartholomew exclaimed, after which he and Hope shared a hug, being observed by someone in the shadows. This figure seemed quite interested in what was going on here.

Later, during that night...

"The blame is mine. I couldn't save her," confessed the blond, physically compromised companion, in front of Bartholomew. Hope could tell this probably hurt his 'father' and put him under the impression that this companion was useless. "If it wasn't for Snow, I wouldn't be here right now," the silver haired child interrupted, also unwittingly giving Legion a clue as to the man's identity. "You are Snow Villiers. Leader. No Obligations, Rules or Authority. Human. Fought Sanctum. Branded Gran Pulse l'Cie. Discovered in Agora, Palumpolum, Cocoon. Did Nora Estheim give you any final data or instructions?"

Snow only said in a sad tone: "Hope… she said to… get him home" to which Bartholomew responded "And that is what you've done". Legion then proceeded to identify the other 2 companions, starting with the pink haired woman: "You are Farron. Sergant. Guardian Corps. Human. Fought criminal elements until recently. Branded Gran Pulse l'Cie. Also discovered in Agora, Palumpolum, Cocoon," promptly receiving a response of "It's Lightning nowadays, but just call me Light," from the companion in question.

Upon spotting the third companion, Legion was at a loss. The only data it had involving her was of the Euride Gorge incident but otherwise there was no data that identified her so the only thing the geth could do was compare her appearance with other people it had in its memory core. The closest match was Cerberus Operative Miranda Lawson, yet the skin tone was too dark, the hair color was black instead of dark brown and the hairstyle was a bit more untidy. There were slightly bigger problems though. The Sanctum would soon attack the hideout. Everyone needed to get into the starship at the earliest opportunity. At the moment, that wasn't going to happen due to Snow ranting on about how the Sanctum was the fal'Cie's puppet, Bartholomew pointing out the repercussions of his plan to take down the Sanctum, Light realizing what would happen, the… possible Cerberus operative… asking whether they are supposed to "just smile and eat a bullet?" and pointing out that Legion and Bartholomew were also part of this and Hope despairing after the latter responded by stating that he was a "harborer of l'Cie and a public enemy."

Shortly afterwards, all the lights shut down. Legion and Hope knew what this meant: the shutdown was part of one of the defense programs they had secretly installed when they arrived, designed to trigger as soon as sensors detected any sort of military in the surrounding area, so its activation could only mean that PSICOM had arrived. Seconds later, gas grenades burst through some of the glass in the roof, followed by a large squad of soldiers who were promptly taken down by Hope and the 2 female guests. They then took cover by one of the broken windows, with Legion accompanying them. "Deploy your combat platform, Hope Estheim," it ordered, whereupon both it and the child it was addressing generated small, orange-yellow devices around their left arms and tapped on them a few times. Then, 2 spherical holograms appeared on the lawn where another squad of PSICOM grunts was positioned. One hologram was bright blue; the other hologram was bright yellow and towards the center on the inside was continuously discharging what looked like bolts of electricity. The yellow hologram was charging into the squad, discharging electricity into the soldiers and taking all the subsequent fire while the blue hologram stayed back, also attacking the soldiers with electricity, although it seemed to be specifically targeting the heads, so as to fry the heads-up displays in their helmets and also stun them. Eventually, due to the yellow hologram taking all of the fire, it exploded in a fairly wide burst of electricity, destroying all the remaining soldiers' heads-up displays.

The blue hologram continued attacking until one of the Sanctum airships arrived and promptly destroyed it with machine gun fire, although it did not explode like its yellow twin, but just broke up and vanished. The people inside the house knew what the airship's arrival meant: they were going to destroy the building next. Legion immediately spawned the strange device around its arm and started tapping again, whereupon the airship's machine guns massacred the PSICOM ground forces. Meanwhile Lightning told Hope to tie up Bartholomew and gave the latter a cover story that went "We kidnapped you and forced you to help us." The response she got was rather interesting. "Good plan… but I've got a better one. Hope, Legion, your ship is ready to go, right?"

Hope couldn't believe this. "Are you serious?" he responded, alarmed.

"Yes, we can use that to escape. It is ready to go, right?"

"But, what about everyone else here?"

"Take them with. If they were going to kill you, they'd have done it by now. The only thing you have provoked from them is curiosity! Especially from your spear-wielding companion by the looks of it."

Hope sighed in defeat. "Fine, Legion, can you take Dad down there and start up the ship. The rest of us will board after we take this frigate down."

"Acknowledged, Hope Estheim, but how can you or your companions destroy a heavily armed and armored combat airship on foot without heavy weaponry?" Legion inquired.

"It'll just take a lot of work, that's all," responded the companion who was possibly a Cerberus operative, whereupon she grabbed her spear and ran outside, followed by Lightning and Hope. Legion, meanwhile, was escorting Bartholomew to the crashed geth ship. After it gazed at them for a few seconds, the very same circular doors that revealed it and its child partner 4 months ago rotated and then opened, revealing a metallic, lifeless interior. Legion led Bartholomew to the place he stored what luggage he packed inside during the afternoon, and then went off to another room with lots of screens and what looked like a console of some sort. The geth then placed its hands just above the console and a few bolts of electricity sprung from it, connecting the ship with its pilot. Immediately, the ship gave off a loud humming sound and started to rise, ascending above the Felix Heights residence by which it crashed. Legion soon saw Hope, his companions, the burning Havoc Skytank frigate that was descending and the new Havoc Skytank frigate come to take the first one's place. The geth ship immediately fired a missile at the newcomer, destroying most of the hull and vital systems, and descended to the front garden whereupon the circular hatch opened up and closed when everyone had boarded. The ship then took further to the sky, continuing to ascend until Legion concluded that they were in orbit over Cocoon.

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**End note:** Now I run into the problem mentioned in the beginning: I don't have too good a grip on the personalities of the other 3 l'Cie, so I don't know how I can get them to react to being inside the geth ship without making them go out of character.


	4. Chapter 4: During the Tragedy: Part 3

**Author's note:** I've got good news and bad news regarding this story. The bad news is that my interest in this particular story is waning. The good news is that this doesn't mean discontinuation is inevitable, it just means updating of this will be less frequent than updating of my other stories. I still haven't manage to find a solution to my little dilemma of how to portray the other l'Cie correctly in their current situation. To that end, I'm issuing possible OOC warnings for each of them.

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Chapter 4: During the Tragedy part 3: Exposure of Hope

Hope found himself rather ecstatic, continuously saying "It's so good to be home!" while his companions were just trying to adjust to 'home'. Snow and Lightning were continuously asking "Is this really a Pulse ship?" with the third companion repeatedly telling them that Gran Pulse didn't have the technology to build something like this, and if they did build the ship, there would be a little bit more color inside instead of "this strange metallic grey interior". This particular companion couldn't believe that Hope's 'home' was so tasteless. Not tasteless… lifeless. She had seen places devoid of life, but they looked more like life was extinguished, and less like there was no life there to begin with… of any kind.

Hope's three companions were now in one room of the geth ship with Bartholomew, while he was with Legion in the ship's control room. Despite its reassurances, and the lack of hostile action against him so far, Hope still felt that his companions, being from an extremely xenophobic society in the beginning, wouldn't continue being this lenient. Legion was hacking into the Sanctum database again upon Hope's request, trying to locate two specific individuals, both of whom the latter decided he might as well let in on his little secret, considering that practically **everyone** knew by now.

"What will happen after the rescue of these individuals Hope?" Legion eventually inquired.

"Easy," Hope stated, "We will probably take temporary leave from the Terminus Systems. I could personally use quite a bit of time on Virmire. Either that, or Therum, depending on the mood after we get Sazh and Vanille."

"Kindly explain your choice. We have already visited Therum and Virmire, neither of which contained possible clues as to the location of Shepard-Commander."

"Virmire, the scenery will help to relieve some of my emotional stress, enabling me to think a little bit clearer. As for Therum, if I am in a bit too sad a mood, the heat should help me 'let it out' so to speak."

"There is one moderate to significant factor that you possibly aren't taking into account. Since you have received that brand upon your left wrist, is there not some primary directive you and your companions have to follow?"

"Oh right, my Focus. As far as I know, the only thing we were able to make out of the damned vision we got was that it somehow pertains to something called Ragnarok. I got a glimpse of what it looked like, and, well, let's just say: remember Nazara?"

"Yes."

"It looks a lot like that. I heard that this Ragnarok is supposed to destroy Cocoon, but I just hope it isn't what I think it is…"

"Construction of an Old Machine would likely require a lot more time, resources and manpower that what you have been allocated by the fal'Cie creature that branded you."

It was then that they could hear footsteps. Legion readied a Geth Pulse Rifle in case Hope's suspicions about his companions turning on him were true. In came Lightning, then Snow, then the unidentified companion. Hope was ready to fight, and he thought things were definitely going to get ugly judging by the shocked expressions on everyone's face. But then the unidentified companion spoke: "Relax kid, we ain't here to fight…"

"…but we do want answers Hope," Lightning continued. "For instance, what exactly is this? Who exactly are you?"

"You know who I am Light." Hope stated. "You know my name and my history…"

"…both of which could have very likely been falsified. I felt as if I knew the person I'm trying to protect, and then all of a sudden we find you had been keeping a strange sort of ship in your backyard and utilizing equally mysterious weapons! Now I'm not sure I even remotely know you at all!"

"Believe me Light, there were times when I really wanted to tell you. But just because, for example, Snow wants to call you his sister doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea."

"What exactly do you-" Lightning began, but then remembered all the times Snow suffered the consequences of calling her 'Sis'.

"Yes, Light. Only things would have gotten a **lot** uglier than a mere punch had I disclosed any information on who I really was."

"Makes sense," the unidentified companion interjected. "I can see where he's going with this: when you're surrounded by people ya don't know, better to be on the safe side in case things get nasty. What _I _want to know is where exactly you're from, kid. Also, what is all this fancy tech you got here?"

"For what reason do you require that specific data, Cerberus Operative?" Legion inquired.

"Look, you... you… what are you?"

"Geth."

"…Geth. I am NOT with this bloody Cerberus you keep yammering on about. My name is Oerba Yun Fang –"

"Appearance of Oerba Yun Fang very similar to appearance of Miranda Lawson, known Cerberus Operative. There is a 67.529% probability that Lawson-Operative is masquerading as 'Oerba Yun Fang'."

"_Will you give the Cerberus thing a rest?_ I'm from Gran Pulse and have recently awoken from a five-hundred year slumber –"

"A human lifespan cannot extend over 500 years unless assisted by some sort of cryogenic stasis, and the odds of the required machinery staying active for that length of time range from low to negligible. The only known success of keeping living beings asleep and alive for long periods of time was the Prothean Ilos research facility-"

"**Just answer my first question! And you, you annoying little bucket of bolts had best shut the fuck up!**"

Hope, sensing the situation was getting out of control, began to explain himself, only going, however, into his origins on the faraway world of Eden Prime and his time on Cocoon. When he was asked how he and Legion met, he told them that could wait until another time. He wanted to save the majority of the explanations for when they had Sazh and Vanille. Then, and only then, would the l'Cie know of the rest of Hope's story… maybe while relaxing near the shore somewhere on Virmire.

"We need confirmation or denial of rumors," Legion suddenly began. "Does l'Cie Brand 'grow'?"

"Yes," Fang answered

"What is the rate of growth of said brand?"

"Depends. If you get a nasty shock it can speed up the process."

"We require scans of all Brands," Legion stated, after which it took Hope's left arm and placed its omni-tool above it. It proceeded to do the same with Snow's arm and Fang's shoulder, but it couldn't locate the area needed to be scanned on Lightning. "Where is your Brand, Farron-Sergeant?" it asked, but she didn't respond. She did, however, blush.

"Where is Farron-Sergeant's Brand?" Legion questioned the others.

"On the chest, look on the left breast," Fang spoke up.

"Fang!" Lightning shouted, embarrassed.

"We just require scans of the Brand Farron-Sergeant," Legion spoke, after which it scanned her chest.

"Well, what did you find out Legion?" Hope asked

"Scans of Farron-Sergeant, Hope and Villiers, Snow show unidentified energy present in Brand locations, with growth occurring at a slow rate. Aforementioned energy shown to have mutagenic properties. Hypothesis: a buildup of enough energy will trigger a genetic mutation in the host. Scans of Oerba Yun, however, show energy that has stopped building up inside and has somehow been rendered inert."

"Any way to bring about that effect in the other Brands, or slow down the buildup of energy?"

"Possibility of such scenario exists, but we will need what humans call 'guinea pig' to test possible remedies. Consensus achieved: test subject is Villiers, Snow."

"Wait a sec, why me? Wouldn't Light, Fang or Hope make better test subjects? Hope's probably gonna be the most willing to do it, so why me?" Snow burst out.

"Where possible, we do not want to subject Hope to physical harm, and the two other l'Cie are still capable of fighting back, whereas Villiers, Snow is almost incapacitated. Brand of Villiers, Snow is also located away from internal vital organs unlike Farron-Sergeant, making it more suitable for required tests as there will be a reduced risk of major organ damage, and also the Brand of Villiers, Snow still has active energy growth unlike brand of Oerba Yun Fang, which has been rendered inert."

Snow was then taken to another area of the ship by Legion. Both of them stayed there for a while, but then they returned to the ship's control room. "Man, that stuff is a bloody miracle worker!" Snow was saying. He was now walking without much trouble.

So, what happened?" Hope asked.

"Skin sample collection successful. Brand markings in skin samples confirmed to have energy and growth. Skin samples undergoing tests. Research results shall be ready in an estimated time of 6.25 hours from now." Legion stated.

"Did you have to extract the skin samples by force?"

"Yes."

"In that case, did you soundproof the room you used? I couldn't hear a thing."

"Yes, although there was no internal and little external damage during the process."

"Also, this little guy healed me everywhere after that. I don't know what with, but it beats the fuck out of potions," Snow stated.

"Let me guess, Medi-gel?" Hope questioned, quickly making that connection.

"Correct. We still have enough units of Medi-gel to treat 43.25 battle wounds such as the ones on Villiers, Snow in addition to repairing damage caused by skin sample collection," Legion stated.

"I guess, but we cannot squander it. I don't know how we can resupply our Medi-gel stocks if we ever run low."

"That is a matter for another time Hope. Signs of fatigue detected in all of you. Rest is highly recommended."

Later, in compliance with Legion's recommendation, everyone was getting some much needed rest, although it was quite difficult as they were all cramped up. The geth ship was in the beginning only carrying one human, so there was only need for one small resting area inside. Legion, meanwhile, was monitoring the Sanctum's records, broadcasts and operations to try and locate the remaining two l'Cie, while the geth ship's computer was studying the skin samples collected from Snow's l'Cie brand. It wasn't until the next morning on Cocoon that it finally found something: there was a transmission to Primarch Dysley informing him of two captured l'Cie aboard the ship Palamecia. Legion recorded the transmission and then went to wake up Hope, Lightning, Snow and Fang. The time had come to bring those two remaining l'Cie into the fold.


	5. Chapter 5: During the Tragedy: Part 4

Chapter 5: During the Tragedy part 4: To save l'Cie

It was still early such that the first rays of daylight were beginning to creep over the Cocoon horizon, and Legion, Hope, Bartholomew, Lightning, Snow and Fang were all active, discussing plans to rescue Vanille and Sazh, both of whom had been taken to the Palamecia. Well, all except for Snow, whom Legion had taken again to another room to "upgrade him based on his battle tactics and limitations," and Bartholomew who was watching over him as the slight-to-moderately painful session of surgery began. Legion had since returned to the cockpit area of the ship to assist in drafting a feasible plan, leaving the rest of the programs in the ship's computer to do the rest of the dirty work.

Hope was questioning Lightning about the Sanctum fleets and how they were armed, armored and operated, as well as the number of ships the Skyfleet possessed, to which she could only answer that those were mainly PSICOM vessels and therefore, due to her instead being in the Guardian Corps, she couldn't get any information about them. Legion suddenly burst into the conversation, answering all of Hope's questions and also mentioning another force called the Cavalry, which also had a large fleet at its command.

"We possess technological advantage due to superior weapon systems, kinetic barrier systems, advanced cyber warfare systems and research done by this platform on the ship's strengths and weaknesses, yet prolonged short-range combat with Sanctum forces is inadvisable due to numerical superiority," it continued.

"Still, we will have to engage if we plan on rescuing those two," Hope responded.

"Slight increase of hormone Cortisol detected in bloodstream of Hope. Confirm presence of fear?"

"Yes, I am scared, we have never done anything like this before, but I'll be fine. I've got Light, that guy and Fang, but most importantly, I've got you Legion, so considering all that, I will be fine."

"Acknowledged. Possible option detected. Hacking into Palamecia duty rosters," Legion stated, after which it returned to the many screens in the cockpit.

"Why has Legion suddenly taken an interest in the Palamecia's duty rosters?" Lightning asked.

"Oh, I think I know… but I'll wait to see if I was correct," Hope answered her. "In the meantime, follow me. I'm sure you could use something to eat."

Lightning and Fang followed Hope to the Food Storage area of the ship, which, since the crash so many years ago, had slowly been restocked. He showed them all the food that he had managed to hoard from the Cocoon fal'Cie as well as what he had left of his original food stores, including up to only five kilograms of Varren meat (which Fang seemed to take a bit of a liking to). As soon as everyone chose what they would eat, Hope immediately took them back up to the control room.

"Strategy formulated," Legion spoke as soon as they entered. "Tactics will include pre-emptive strike on airship Palamecia, as there is minimal staff duty at present. Considering factors, preparation time can be no more than one hour. Farron-Sergant?"

"Yes?" Lightning responded.

"We require temporary possession of your weapon for upgrade purposes."

"Upgrade purposes? How could you upgrade my gunblade?"

"It can be done. We possess an archive of Cocoon weaponry and know how to augment it with our technology."

"Very well, you can have it, just don't break it!" Lighitning spoke, after which she handed her Blazefire Saber to Legion, who immediately took it and Hope to another part of the ship.

Later on, Legion and Hope, along with Bartholomew and Snow, returned to Lightning and Fang. "Status update on Blazefire Saber: Heavy Disruptor Ammo installed, Inferno Ammo installed, Improved Cryo Ammo installed. Concussive Shot installed, but further upgrading of function still possible," the geth stated, after which it handed back the modified gunblade to its original owner.

"Okay and how exactly am I supposed to _use_ all this new technology?" Lightning spoke.

"Activation switches have been added, as well as additional trigger for concussive shots. Note, you cannot have more than one ammo mode active at a time, the weapon's new systems cannot allow for it."

"Okay, so how do I tell which one I have?"

"Activate Improved Cryo Ammo by pressing the light-blue switch."

"Okay," Lightning complied, and pressed the miniature switch indicated on her sword guard. Small light-blue screens then appeared on either side of the blunt ends of the blade. Legion explained to her how the ammo worked, how to properly use it, and also how to use the Concussive shot, after which it equipped her with a miniature grey metal wristband which seemed to pierce into her skin with very small needles and explained its function: the creation of an Adrenaline Rush inside the wearer. When asked why it equipped Lightning with this, Legion mentioned that it was to try and optimize her performance as a soldier.

The time had come to attack. The geth ship descended back into the Cocoon skies, and headed straight for the Palamecia. On the way, it fired many Siege Pulses in the direction it was flying, and not a shot was wasted, for they either hit and destroyed one Sanctum Warship in the Palamecia's vicinity, or damaged the Palamecia itself. The ship, alien to both worlds, descended until it was almost touching its target, whereupon it sank its massive claws into one of the Sanctum vessel's port-side areas.

Lightning, Fang, Snow and Hope left through a hatch on the underside of the ship's bow. PSICOM troops had already gathered there, but Lightning then proceeded to test her new toys. First, she activated her Cryo Ammo and shot two soldiers, after which they froze where they stood, and then she activated her Incendiary Ammo and shot two more soldiers, who then started to panic and burst into flames. Snow had also learned a few new tricks as he generated a yellowish holographic set of armor on his body and shot a projectile from his new omni-tool which hit a PSICOM soldier and froze him where he stood, Hope immediately recognizing it as a Cryo Blast.

Hope also decided to show the rest of them how much he had actually been holding out on them. His omni-tool appeared on his arm, after which not only did his yellow Combat Drone appear, but also a large mass of fire from the tool, which he identified as his Incineration Blast. The remaining PSICOM troops were bunched up together attacking the Drone when the ball of fire hit and exploded, promptly reducing them to burning skeletons.

Many announcements were being made, ranging from "L'cie inside the ship! All hands prepare to engage!" to "Prepare to dislodge the Pulsian ship from our hull!" but soon they became "There's a virus in our systems! We cannot stop it!" to "Multiple system failures! We may have to abandon ship at this rate!" to "Our automated defenses are going haywire! Someone's using our weapons against us!" to "Something has infiltrated our computers. It can access all of our data!" to "All of our communications are jammed. We cannot signal anyone for help!" The four l'Cie were quite amused by what was happening, but focused on finding Sazh and Vanille. They were found sleeping in one of the Palamecia's Prison Cell blocks and were woken up.

Fang and Vanille then embraced each other, with the former checking out the latter's Brand and breathing a sigh of relief. "I hate to spoil the reunion, but we have to go!" Hope shouted. After a while of more running and fending off PSICOM soldiers with not only their l'Cie powers, but also the new technologies gifted to Lightning and Snow by Hope and Legion, they finally reached their original point of entry. After they climbed aboard through the hatch, it closed, and Vanille and Sazh were immediately escorted to the resting area by Bartholomew.

The claws of the geth ship relinquished their hold on the Palamecia. Hope and Legion could see many explosions on the Sanctum flagship, and the former had to admit that he loved it when a plan came together. Through the many hacks and viruses, the Palamecia had almost self-destructed, and now the geth ship fired nine siege pulses at it, and then escaped. Things were starting to get a little nasty as the Sanctum Skyfleet was denting the kinetic barriers of the ship, but before leaving Cocoon entirely for now, it stayed to watch as its killing blows landed, causing its large opponent to further explode and crumble, and eventually, unable to sustain flight, sink back through the sky to the ground.

The geth ship returned to Cocoon's higher orbit, and from there, Sazh and Vanille got the first look at their worlds from space. They were also filled in on what was happening by Bartholomew and Legion, confirming to Sazh what Vanille had been telling him when he said that he couldn't believe he was on a Pulse ship: that Gran Pulse couldn't have constructed such a ship as this.

"Wait, are we turning away from the planet?" Sazh asked as the planets Cocoon and Gran Pulse shifted further to the sides of the screen.

"Yes," Legion responded, after which a glowing blue sphere came into view. "Approaching Mass Relay."

"Mass what?"

"Mass Relay, a device constructed by the Old Machines to facilitate intergalactic travel."

"Wait, so that means we're leaving Cocoon?"

"Yes. Contacting relay in three… two… one…"

The ship came very close to the Mass Relay after which a bolt of energy, connected to the relay's blue sphere, contacted it and propelled it forward. The propulsion stopped once the ship reached another Mass Relay.

Once they ventured farther away from their destination Relay, Hope questioned Legion about how their anti-Cie'th solution was coming along.

"Complete research results unavailable; analysis needs another 4.50 hours to complete," Legion responded. "Select new destination for ship."

"Maybe we can visit Hope's real home?" Snow suggested.

"Inadvisable, Eden Prime is too heavily guarded for a landing."

"But you have got a ship that should match what they are using, so why would they shoot at us?"

"This ship is not a Human Systems Alliance vessel, it is a geth vessel, and organics harbor hostile feelings towards the geth due to actions of heretics, Saren Arterius and Nazara."

"But I'm sure it would do Hope some good were he to visit his old home!" Vanille stated.

"As much as I wish that were the case Vanille, you couldn't be more wrong," Hope told her.

"Why?"

"That's a story for another time. Legion, set a course for Virmire!"


	6. Chapter 6: During the Tragedy: Part 5

**Author's**** note:** Sorry I took so long updating this. November was just really busy for me, otherwise I would have updated then. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. However, one other thing I would like to mention is: if you are curious to see what stories I will update, then you can check my profile.

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Chapter 6: During the Tragedy part 5: Hope in the past.

Everyone there was shocked: why did Hope suddenly take a decision to move away from Cocoon. Each Focus surely required them to be there, so why the sudden movement away from where they were supposed to be. Legion entered the coordinates into the ship and then left the room, taking Sazh with it.

Later, it brought him back, and he had a curious look on his face. Legion explained that it had outfitted him with an omni-tool boasting a few tech-based abilities as well as Disruptor Ammo and Cryo Ammo for his pistols, and given him a Sniper Rifle. "Okay, now when are you going to outfit me?" Fang asked.

"Soon. Considering your combat style, we have achieved consensus that L5n biotic implants will be required," Legion responded. "What is Vanille's fighting style?"

"She mostly stays back, healing us while weakening and damaging opponents from afar, why?"

"Consensus achieved. L5x implants will be required for Vanille."

"Wait, implant…" Snow began. "You implanted something at the base of my neck! What is it?"

"Biotic implant enabling your use of the abilities Warp and Throw."

"Wait, so you are planning to give Fang and Vanille antibiotic powers as well?"

"Incorrect, biotic powers will be given. Arrival at Virmire achieved."

The ship descended onto the lush paradise of a planet in the Sentry Omega cluster. As soon as it landed, everyone disembarked save for Legion, taking most of the food supply with them. Legion stated that it would procure the required implants for the Gran Pulsians as quickly as possible, but it would take an estimated time of three hours. In the meanwhile, the six l'Cie and Bartholomew could only relax on Virmire's beaches for the moment.

"So Hope, while we're here, why don't you tell us who you really are?" Lightning asked.

"I guess I should," Hope said with a sigh. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Well… start with who you really were when you were younger."

"Fine, I guess I can do that. You all know I was born on Eden Prime now. I was fascinated by technology, such that, in addition to helping with agricultural activities alongside the rest of my people, I took various lessons explaining how to use the technology, and also experimented with various pieces of it. In fact, I think I was probably the first person to get my hands on an omni-tool at that age."

"Since you asked me this question more or less, I think I need to ask you: What was your main aim in life?" Snow asked.

"To help my people, and maybe humanity as a whole. Yes I could have probably done that farming like almost every other colonist there, but I didn't feel happy just growing crops. I felt much happier experimenting with technology, and I naively thought that my experiments and possibly future inventions would push humanity even further."

"What do you mean by 'naively'?"

"That's rather simple Snow, after a while I grew disillusioned with the colony of Eden Prime, and eventually humanity as a whole."

"That's… a rather sad way to see humanity," Sazh spoke up. "Why do you feel that way kid?"

Hope explained that it all started one fateful day at least one year ago. He had developed a new function for his omni-tool which had allowed it to scan a localized area for active technology. He wasn't really expecting much with it, just experimenting, but as he walked down one field outside the colony, it suddenly picked up something. He immediately reported via his omni-tool to his parents (who were part of the scientific authority on the planet) that he had good reason to believe the area he was in contained a possibly unique discovery.

He was right: at that very spot at which his Tech-scan function identified, they excavated a Prothean ruin, with one of their beacons. Once his parents and their archaeological team had reached the ruins, the rest of Eden Prime's scientific community descended like vultures, saying that they found what might be the biggest discovery in a century, apparently forgetting _who_ found that wretched ruin in the first place.

Having a vague idea of what technologies might comprise the beacon, Hope activated it, and a whole set of visions came streaming into his head, seemingly telling a story. However, his use seemed to have damaged the beacon, as it gave off some odd electrical activity afterwards. Then, just as he had returned with his parents to the main colony, it happened.

_They_ attacked. The Reaper Sovereign and the heretic geth descended on the colony. Hope's parents were among the first to fall as they got shot, and were then impaled on giant spikes, their last words urging Hope to run. He managed to live through the attack, but the beacon was destroyed amid all the chaos, along with the lives of many other colonists, some of which became black-grayish monstrosities with electric blue features. When Hope checked the extranet records of the event afterwards, what he saw shocked him: "The scientific community on Eden Prime, after a long time, had finally made a discovery of great importance, which was sadly lost." His name was nowhere to be found, it was as if he was just an insignificant little spec of dust, when in fact they would have not even found the godforsaken beacon were it not for him. He wasn't asking for fame, just for at least one semblance of gratitude for what he did, and there was none at all. It was during these times that Hope grew more and more distant from the people he was with, after all, if they won't acknowledge his efforts, why should he bother helping them?

Then there was the Battle of the Citadel. Hope had connections with Commander Leliana Shepard, who led the efforts to defend the Citadel and it was through these connections that he was able to find out about that. Then they send her off to fight more geth, only for her to suddenly be classed as "killed in action".

After that, he met Legion. He had become accustomed to living outside the colony, rarely talking to anyone unless he needed something from them. One day, a ship touched down where he had made his home, and a geth departed from it. Knowing an opportunity to escape when he saw one, he tried to enter and hijack the ship. It took many days, but he broke through the sophisticated firewalls and managed to shut down any alarms he found, and finally gained entry. After bringing what possessions he had left, being mostly hoarded food, a few technical gizmos and an experimental boomerang, he was about to access the ship controls when he was discovered.

The geth was, strangely, non-hostile, and merely asked for identification and explanation. Hope relayed his story thus far to said geth, and with it expressed a desire to get off Eden Prime and at very least try and do something useful which will not go unnoticed by those he would work with. The geth, after hearing this, allowed him to stay on board, and Hope, after trying to ask its name but just receiving the word "Geth" and information that there were 1,183 active programs in the 'platform', gave it the name 'Legion' based off one passage saying "My name is Legion, for we are many", which it had acknowledged as an appropriate metaphor.

Through Legion's ship, Hope had gained access to a better tool for information gathering than what his omni-tool was capable of, and it was through this that he learned that everything that Leliana Shepard had stirred up, despite knowing how important it was, was just being swept back under the rug. It was a case of "No, despite the fact that it was staring us in the face, we choose not to believe that there is a greater threat on the horizon."

Legion also taught Hope some more technological skills and gave him access to some upgraded equipment, such as a better omni-tool than what he had, and Hope also learned quite a bit along the way.

"How did you end up on Cocoon then?" Lightning eventually asked.

"Well, we had just left another world, called Alchera, looking for Shepard's body…" Hope explained, "…it was not there, however. We were intending to investigate one of the uncharted worlds in the Terminus Systems that she had been to for more clues, but when we passed through the Mass Relay, we ended up in a completely different area of space. Soon after that, systems suddenly failed and we crashed into the Felix Heights area in Palumpolum."

"That's when Nora and I came into the picture," Bartholomew continued. "Hope and Legion needed a place to stay after they emerged from the ship, and we were happy to accommodate them… more or less."

"But why don't we visit Eden Prime?" Vanille asked again.

Just then, the same geth ship returned and landed. Legion disembarked, warning everyone that a Cerberus military division had managed to follow it. First to volunteer for the upgrades was Fang, who followed Legion back inside the ship while everyone else got ready for battle, Hope outfitting Lightning, Sazh and Vanille with shield generators that Legion managed to acquire along with the implants.

Soon, one Kodiak shuttle landed near them, and six Cerberus soldiers disembarked. Lightning quickly shot at them with her gunblade, but the bullets instead hit a force field on each of the targets. In response to this, the Cerberus team quickly opened fire. Lightning and Sazh activated their Disruptor Ammo and returned fire with their shots having much more of an impact this time around. Hope deployed his Combat Drone, then Overloaded the shields of another two men, while Snow and Vanille were trying to wear them down with magic.

The six soldiers fell, but then another Kodiak shuttle arrived, this time bearing four Cerberus soldiers and two light mechs. Hope quickly told Sazh to hack into one of them, after which he himself hacked into the other one and watched as they opened fire on their comrades. The second squad soon fell, after which two more Kodiak shuttles offloaded in total eight soldiers and four light mechs. Sazh and Hope immediately hacked two of the four mechs and then delivered Incineration blasts to each of the groups, igniting six of the total eight soldiers. Another Kodiak dropped off six more soldiers, two wielding missile launchers, to back up the two fighting men already on the ground.

Just then, Fang emerged from the ship, became a blue sphere of energy and rammed directly into one of the new arrivals, creating a shockwave that knocked them all down. "Vanille, you're up!" she yelled across to her partner, whereupon she went back into the bowels of the geth ship with Legion. Taking advantage of the confusion of the enemy soldiers, Sazh and Lightning proceeded to fire at each of them to finish them off.

They fended off three more waves, which consisted of one Kodiak bringing in six soldiers for the first two, and two bringing in twelve. Just as a fourth wave landed consisting of three shuttles, Vanille emerged, and immediately sent out a blue sphere of light from her hand that collided with a soldier and suspended six of the fourteen soldiers in mid air unable to do anything. Hope promptly fired an Incineration blast at them, igniting them, and hacked one of the four mechs that had arrived, with Sazh hacking another and also using an Incineration blast on another group of soldiers. Snow instead used a Cryo blast to freeze the one group of four soldiers and two mechs that were remaining, and after another battle, they all fell.

One last shuttle descended, and when its doors opened, they revealed a woman who looked a lot like Fang, yet was lighter skinned and actually dressed in some sort of uniform. Accompanying her were two Heavy mechs.

"Shame on you child, I never thought you would spit on your aunt's legacy like this!" she spoke.

"You must be this Miranda girl I've heard about!" Fang stated, recalling Legion's first accusation against her. "And how the hell is the kid insulting his aunt?"

"He, along with the rest of you, is siding against the very enemies she fought!"

"But those were-"

"Don't bother Fang," Hope cut in. "Trying to explain things to the likes of her is like talking to a brick wall. Also, for your information, Cerberus whore, my aunt also fought against people like you!"

"What a vulgar little boy you are!" continued the Cerberus operative. "I cannot believe someone like you, a collaborator with the geth and with such disrespect for your elders, could be the nephew of the late Leliana Shepard!"


	7. Chapter 7: During the Tragedy: Part 6

Chapter 7: During the Tragedy part 6: Quests, qualms and quarians.

"Hope…" Snow said, stunned.

"You didn't tell them, I see," Miranda spoke. "That's right, this child's name just so happens to be Hope Shepard, son of Alistair and Andraste Shepard, grandson to Captain Hannah Shepard, and nephew to Leliana Shepard, the heroine of both the Battle of Elysium and the Battle of the Citadel!"

"Wow Hope, it sounds like you were descended from a whole line of heroes!"

"Does it really matter Snow?" Hope shouted. "Anyway, how exactly is that relevant to what is happening now? There is a Cerberus Agent right in front of us!"

"You make a good point Hope," Lightning began. "Weren't we fighting these Cerberus people just now?"

"You people just won't listen to reason will you?" Miranda sighed. "Fine then, This information is normally top secret, but know this: we have Leliana's body. We are bringing her back from the dead, and she will know when she wakes up that her late nephew has betrayed all she stood for!"

With that, Miranda got on the shuttle and the Heavy Mechs opened fire. "You won't escape!" Lightning shouted as her chest lit up. "O-"

"No Light! We don't want to draw attention to our kind!" Hope shouted, trying to stop her from doing what he thought she was doing

"I thought nobody outside of Cocoon and Pulse knew l'Cie existed?"

"Yes, and especially when it comes to groups like Cerberus, we don't want to put the idea in their heads!"

"Why, what will they do?"

"Let's just say that death by Sanctum firing squads is preferable!"

As the party attacked the Heavy Mechs and the Cerberus Shuttle left the Virmire skyline, there was more conversation. Sazh, amidst shooting at the Mechs with active Disruptor Ammo, pounding away with Ravager spells and casting Synergist buffs, asked how the Sanctum could possibly be preferable to Cerberus, mentioning how he, his son and Vanille were manipulated by the Sanctum employee Jihl Nabaat, also giving a short description of her. Hope, while overloading the Heavy Mechs' shields, said that it sounded like this Jihl would fit in well with Cerberus, as they sounded like her, just sicker with their methodology, especially when it came to experiments.

After a while, Hope told everyone that the Mech's shields were down, which meant it was time to switch to Incendiary Ammo. Upon hearing this, Fang took out a little present from Legion: a Geth Plasma Shotgun, and activated its Incendiary Ammo. Lightning did the same with her Blazefire Saber after which both opened fire, while Hope and Sazh started unleashing Incineration blasts and more Ravager spells, mainly focusing on Fira. Snow continued to use Overload and electrical spells, while Vanille tried further weakening it with Saboteur debuffs, as the only biotic ability she knew was useless to her.

Eventually, the Armor for the mechs was destroyed, and Hope told everyone that they could unload on all of the Mechs. Amid the use of Overload, there was also many a Thunder spell and Sparkstrike. The first Heavy Mech started to fall over, and as its knees hit the ground it exploded. Lightning shot off the head of the second Heavy Mech, but as it fell down, a light was coming from its neck area and Hope immediately yelled at everyone to take cover. The resulting explosion left behind a smallish mushroom cloud.

"Hope?" Vanille started.

"What is it Vanille?" Hope asked, weary after the battle.

"I'm sorry, but the enhancements don't seem to have given me much."

"Ah, you refer to the L5x implants?"

"Yes. I was only given knowledge of how to use one ability. I wasn't able to help much in battle because of it."

"I agree," Fang cut in. "Yes, I've got a few decent new weapons, the shotgun's especially a nice touch, but I can only use that one ability. I know I can do more, but why don't I have knowledge of that part?"

"I see, you refer to your biotic abilities," Hope responded. "I guess it is just due to your implants giving you an inherent knowledge of one unique ability, but for you to truly master them, you will need to learn how to properly tap into your biotic potential. Legion?"

"Yes?" the geth wondered.

"What say we take everyone to Feros?"

"Explain your choice of planet Hope."

"I'm thinking of enlisting Shiala's aid. What with every other possible avenue either closed to us due to… you know, or the fact that they will take too long, she's the only way that Snow, Fang and Vanille will learn to master their biotic powers!"

"A crash course in biotics? Wait, new data incoming!"

"What is it, Legion?"

"Research results of Brand Skin sample analysis recommend that a substance from a fal'Cie-type creature should comprise countermeasure. Scans from memory indicate Thorian genetic structure is identical to fal'Cie genetic structure."

"So now we have _two_ reasons to go to Feros. Wonderful."

"Leaving so soon? I was starting to like it here!" Snow exclaimed.

"Unfortunately yes, Snow. Let's get on board."

As soon as everybody was on the ship, it took off from Virmire. They went through another Mass Relay, and when the ship's airlocks were next opened, they were staring into a seemingly abandoned building. Hope, Legion and the others disembarked from there, after which the ship submerged into what were now clouds. From there, they walked to the Zhu's Hope colony.

When they arrived, they were met with a hostile reception. The guards opened fire as soon as they spotted Legion, but was soon told by an asari to hold fire. Hope's companions had mixed feelings towards the asari, but she approached and greeted Hope, with her introducing herself as Shiala and him introducing Lightning, Snow, Vanille, Sazh, Fang and Bartholomew. Hope immediately asked her, since she used to be a follower of a powerful Matriarch, if she could give Fang, Vanille and Snow the crash course in biotics, also asking for entry into the Thorian's resting place.

Snow was a little uneasy about interacting with Shiala, but Fang and Vanille seemed to have been taking it better though. Before the training, however, the latter woman insisted that they visit Hope's home world of Eden Prime if she took the course, to which Hope responded that it would not happen at all.

"Come on Hope, don't make my newfound dreams die like this!" she pouted.

"Vanille…" Hope stated in a broken voice, a tear rolling down his cheek, "… that was low. Fine, we will go there."

"You okay Hope? You sound hurt," Lightning asked.

"Let us just get to the Thorian corpse Light."

Legion had brought a Geth Recon Drone with, and as soon as it, Hope, Lightning and Sazh reached the Thorian pit, it activated the drone, sending it down the shaft.

"Thorian corpse located: three kilometers below our position," the geth spoke after a while.

"How are we going to get down there?" Lightning asked. "My Eidolon cannot fly or stay out for such a long period of time."

"Oh, I think there's a way," Hope began. "Legion, shall we…"

"Yes, a hovercraft will be needed. Problem detected: Omni-tool lacks transmitter range to summon ship hovercraft."

"Can't I just plug in my omni-tool to the colony's communications and use that to boost the signal strength?"

"Consensus achieved: plan of Hope will work."

Hope left the pit, followed by Lightning, while Sazh stayed with the geth. On his way to the communications array, the young boy saw the training of Snow, Fang and Vanille with Shiala, and from the looks of it, Vanille was grasping the training better than the other two. Hope hacked into the array and opened the doors of the geth ship to summon the hovercraft. It arrived after a few minutes, whereupon the user history with his little plan was wiped, and the connection terminated.

Legion alone descended through the bowels of the pit, and after four hours, returned with severed Thorian tissue. Hope's next move was strange: he went to the local merchant and bought three bouquets of flowers. When Lightning asked who they were for, he just said "three people close to my heart." Legion used the hovercraft to return to the ship, while the rest stayed inside the colony and conversed. Lightning, Sazh and Bartholomew heard quite a few interesting things that were unheard of, yet strangely familiar. They heard, for example, how the Thorian released spores to be ingested by colonists and make them its thralls, a process that sounded similar to branding of l'Cie. What surprised the l'Cie there, however, was how this Thorian handled its thralls: unlike fal'Cie, it took an interest in what they thought, and rebellious thoughts were punished, but at the same time, also unlike fal'Cie, it actually seemed to care for them, not punishing the aforementioned rebellious thoughts with death, and also making an effort to keep the thralls out of harm's way.

By the day's end, Shiala told Hope that Snow, Fang and Vanille had learned enough to be able to use their biotic powers, yet insisted that in exchange for her training services, they stay the night. Legion had returned to the ship to analyze data and create the solution to their Brand problem, while the remaining seven people stayed at the Zhu's Hope colony. During their time there, Vanille and Fang also questioned Hope about the flowers, but he remained tight-lipped about them. Vanille also questioned Hope about why he acted how he acted back at the Hanging Edge, after all, if he himself was from another world, how could he be so quick to label an unknown world as 'hell'? Hope answered the only way he knew how: would she really have continued to help him if he revealed who he was? "Besides, as a general rule of thumb, any Terminus Systems world is hell until it can prove itself otherwise," he added.

It was at around that point that Vanille saw something that diverted her attention: what appeared to be a feminine figure in purple and black clothing with a transparent face-mask that featured a bluish light at the mouth area. The figure looked in their direction and gave a small sigh. "You have to be joking," she stated to herself, the light on her mask flickering as she spoke, after which an omni-tool appeared on her left hand and started displaying a picture after a few taps.

"About what?" Vanille wondered aloud.

"The hair looks almost exactly the same, and except for that tattoo on his left arm his features are all identical."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Damn it! The picture is starting to fade!"

"Would you tell me what is going on already!"

It was at this point that the figure took notice of Vanille. "Sorry little one, it is just that your companion looks exactly like – stay in focus!" Vanille noticed that the picture on her omni-tool was breaking up heavily and refusing to re-form.

"Any idea why that picture is breaking up like that?"

"It cannot be poor quality or a bad extranet connection because I dealt with those two problems already. The only possible explanation is that somebody's hacking into my omni-tool!"

"Hope, what do you think?" Vanille shouted to her young partner, but he was also tapping on his omni-tool. The picture on the other one soon vanished completely.

"It cannot be. You're Shepard's nephew?" the woman shouted to him.

"So what if I am?" Hope asked. "Why does it matter?"

"Damn, the picture has been deleted. Eden Prime has been worrying about you!"

"Pull the other one. Since when would anyone be looking for me?"

"Oh keelah. Look child, the people of your home planet are worried about you! Can't you at least visit them?"

"Just who are you anyway?"

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Hope, and who is your friend there?"

"My name is Oerba Dia Vanille," the girl in question answered. "I'm a l-"

"No Vanille!" Hope shouted.

"What is wrong Hope? Can't I tell this woman what we are?"

"Rather not please. If you do, we will never hear the end of a questioning session."

"Why, is this… lady with that Cerberus-?"

"**How dare you, you little bosh'tet!**" Tali shouted at Vanille, who backed away in fright. At that point, they were joined by the other l'Cie. "Something wrong? I thought I heard a shout." Lightning asked.

"Calm down Tali," Hope pleaded. "Vanille has only very recently entered galactic society."

"Exactly how can that be the case? Just because she wears different clothing – which on a side note I like – doesn't mean that she's new among the stars!" Tali continued.

"Well, let us try something. What do you think of when I say 'Cocoon'?"

"I think of an insect larva, but why is that important-."

"Gran Pulse?"

"How is all this relevant?"

"What I have mentioned are two Terminus Systems worlds that are completely cut off from galactic society, from which Vanille and my other companions originated. There are humans dwelling on at least one of those two worlds, and they have no knowledge whatsoever of galactic society, much less how much quarians like yourself view Cerberus."

"Interesting. I would like to visit these worlds. Give me the coordinates."

"It could possibly be an idea... what do you think Lightning? Is Cocoon ready to see another Pulse invasion?"

"What do you mean 'invasion'? I just want to see these worlds for myself."

"Doing so is strongly ill-advised Tali. The people on Cocoon are extremely xenophobic."

"Never mind then, but why won't you go home?"

"Tell me, what is there to go home to? I've lost my family, I've lost my dreams and I've lost any hope of actually aiding my own species! What possible reason would there be to return to that rock?"

"You haven't lost your friends, you silly child."

"Who exactly do you mean?"

"Let us see if the following name rings a bell: Connor Guerrin."

With that, memories of a slightly skinny brunet boy came streaming into Hope's mind. Connor was one of the only friends he had when he was younger. Also somewhat of a prodigy child, he had taken an interest in medicine and hoped to be a doctor in later years.

"Hope." The sound of the silver-haired boy's name on Connor's lips always brought him a smile, as it felt good to know that he wasn't alone. Connor also had some strange beliefs, which didn't quite make sense to Hope: he thought, contrary to what science had proven, that magic actually existed. In fact, were Hope to look back on it now, he thought that this child would probably have been the only person in the galaxy to willingly become a l'Cie if given the chance.

"Hope," he would always greet. The three of them, Hope, Connor and… there was one other person, they would always meet every chance they got and discuss many things. Hope always looked forward to those meetings, it was actually very emotionally satisfying to be around people who could relate to him.

"Hope!" Vanille's voice suddenly burst in. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied. How could he have forgotten Connor? The two of them were best friends! Connor helped him to stay sane after Sovereign's attack on Eden Prime, he was the only one to still visit him when he began distancing himself from the colony, and as a result, the only person he kept in contact with. Connor knew of Hope's departure, and the promise made that they would stay in touch which was always kept until… Cocoon.

"This l'Cie business must be affecting me worse than I thought," he spoke with a sigh.

"La what?" Tali asked.

Now Hope knew he had done it, he had let slip his condition, and now he would be forced to explain to the quarian what exactly they were, which he was **not** looking forward to.

* * *

**End note:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter, especially the appearance by Tali. A bit of bad news, I am not sure when the next update is going to be, but I will try and do it as soon as possible.


	8. Chapter 8: During the Tragedy: Part 7

**Author's note: **Sorry about the long wait. Among other things, including a lack of inspiration over the long period of time, I was really busy with two of my other projects. Hopefully, I will be able to pay this story a little bit more attention over the coming months.

* * *

Chapter 8: During the Tragedy part 7: Fun with Tali

"Don't bother, Tali." Hope's voice could be heard in the night sky of Feros.

"Why not?" the quarian's voice responded.

"I just had a slip of the tongue, stop badgering me about it!"

"If it was serious enough to make you space out after hearing that child's name, then it has to be important. 'Slip of the tongue' isn't an excuse!"

"Even if you are finding my little vocal slip-up interesting, why don't you bother one of my companions?"

"Keelah, you are impossible! I ask you because, according to the people of Eden Prime, you are a genius for your age!"

"Okay, now I _know_ you are lying about Eden Prime wanting me back."

"How so?"

"The people of that place refused to acknowledge me as such, calling me such names as 'weirdo', 'deluded' and 'mentally deranged'. All of them… save Connor."

"Still, you should visit him, at least tell him you are okay! Besides, you still have yet to answer my question. What exactly is a-"

"Geez, are you guys _still_ bickering?" Fang's voice echoed throughout the room. Inside of one of Feros' diners, everyone else had settled down to eat, save for Hope and Tali who were standing up in the verbal conflict. "When the hell are you two gonna settle down and grab a bite?"

"For some reason, your little friend doesn't see fit to give me information on this 'l'Cie' concept," came Tali's response.

"And I don't see why he should. However, considering how polite you've been, I might do ya a favor and answer your question."

"What are the chances you can give me a better answer?"

"Well, judging from what Snow told me, he was an emotional wreck when he was Branded. That, and the fact that I've been in the business longer, makes me better suited to answering that. Just don't push your luck."

Upon Tali's subsequent request, Fang explained to her what a l'Cie was, how they were each given a Focus to complete within a certain amount of time, how they were turned to crystal if they were successful or how they were turned into Cie'th if they ran out of time, and that the Focus of their particular group seemed to have something to do with a beast called Ragnarok.

Upon hearing what Ragnarok was, and what it did, Tali entered a state of shock. "No… it can't be…" she spoke.

"Yes, the scarring on Cocoon done by Ragnarok was so terrible, people couldn't live in those areas anymore. At least, that's what I heard," Hope said.

"No… it's not that… but if this Ragnarok is what I think it is…"

"Yeah, I know. I myself arrived at that possibility…"

"Listen Hope, if nothing else, do this for your late auntie Shepard!"

"The same Shepard that focused entirely on her military career and refused to leave any time for her own family? No thanks!"

"_That doesn't matter!_ Just do this for her. No matter the cost, you _cannot_ let Ragnarok return! With the state of the Council, the Citadel is ill-prepared to defend against another attack!"

"How so? After Sovereign, they should be on alert, especially with Anderson on the Council-"

"Anderson is probably the only one on the Council who _isn't_ trying to sweep the whole mess with Sovereign under the carpet!"

"So, nothing at all has changed since I last checked. The Council and the Citadel Fleet is just sitting there waiting for the truth to come back and bite them in the ass?"

"Yes, and if your little Pilgrimage awakens this Ragnarok, the entire galaxy is doomed!"

"Excuse me, but why is Ragnarok a threat to your people? Shouldn't your technology be more than enough to combat it? Why are you so terrified by it?" Snow asked.

"I pray you never have to find out," was all Tali could say.

The entire group, including Tali, stayed for the night on Feros. The next morning, Hope got up bright and early, ate an asari delicacy and immediately set to work with preparations for departure.

"Oh Keelah! Not again!" came Tali's scream from inside her quarters a couple minutes later.

"What's wrong? It's early, so what is going on for you to wake me up like that?" Sazh's voice emanated from the same quarters.

"Some little bosh'tet has placed a virus on my omni-tool!"

"What's it doing?"

"Seems like a worm. It's breached the firewalls and it looks like it is copying data and transmitting it, but to where?"

"Let me ask Hope. From what I can make out, he's an expert on that type of technology?"

"Wait, I think I have isolated- damn it, the hacker used a decoy!"

"Any way to identify where the virus originated? Is it close by?"

"Not unless I find the original worm. Maybe I can encrypt some of the data and strengthen the firewalls… damn, another virus has been uploaded!"

"I'll get Hope-"

"Wait, I've managed to isolate the new virus. I've already started a trace program, and it's pinpointed the point of origin to be… five meters away?"

"I'll have him try help you find the hacker-"

"The viruses have stopped. So far, it doesn't look like any sensitive data was copied, but what made the hacker stop? Wait, the transmission has stopped, so that means… the signal's location has been lost!"

Sazh and Tali then left to find Hope in the dining area and found him working on his omni-tool. Looking puzzled as to why the two of them were up so early, Hope just said hello.

"Kid, can we ask for some help?" Sazh began.

"I guess…" was Hope's reply.

"Someone was hacking into Tali's omni-tool just now."

"Okay… did you manage to isolate the virus?"

"Yes, but it looked like it was coming from somewhere close."

"Ah yes, I wondered what that one terminal was doing. I could just sense that something was off, so I tried as fast as possible to infiltrate the computer. Heh, really glad that I did so, the activity indicated transmission of something of a viral nature, so I worked as fast as I possibly could to terminate it."

"Damn, that was quick."

"A little too quick if you ask me." Tali suddenly spoke. "There's no possible way you could counter a virus remotely unless you were directly affected. Something's wrong here, Sazh."

"What could you be saying?"

"Due to the time of day, it is highly unlikely that anyone else would be up, and yet someone was. On top of that, the signal originated close to where we were, and ceased the moment the trace program got results. Suspicion falls, therefore, on the chef and Hope – not again!"

"What?"

"Another virus has just infiltrated my omni-tool! Got a trace program running, pinpointed to a meter away! Wait, I see it!"

"What is it?"

"A… public extranet terminal? The virus is withdrawing again!"

At that point, Sazh gave a grunt, and the terminal in question short circuited and exploded. "Okay, the virus has stopped completely, and from what I can gather, nothing was retransmitted to any other source in the last few hours. It seemed like a weak rogue VI," Tali spoke. "How did it explode though?"

"Well…' Sazh began, "I think we left out one thing when telling you about l'Cie."

"What would that be?"

"We can use magic,"

"Very funny, the console just happened to miraculously explode with a wave of a wand and destroy the virus then?"

"I blew it up with a thunder spell. I'm being serious."

"Really? Then show me more magic. Make something appear out of your hair!"

Sazh's chocobo chick popped its head out of his afro and chirped at that point. However, Sazh summoned a ball of fire and threw it at the destroyed terminal.

"That can't be magic!" Tali resumed. "That has to be some sort of biotics… or a new omni-tool function…"

"Sorry, Tali, that was magic. I just launched a fire spell," Sazh reasoned.

"But there is no possible way… that magic could exist. It has to be some sort of omni-tool function, or a unique type of grenade… it's just impossible, and stupid… to call it magic…"

At that point, Fang, Lightning, Vanille, Bartholomew and Snow also entered the dining area. "Vanille," Hope spoke

"Yes?" she responded.

"I've given it some thought, and I've come to a decision. You wanted to visit my home of Eden Prime?"

"I do."

"Well, I've decided that, since you saved me in the Hanging Edge, it's the least I can do to pay you back. Besides, there is at least one person who I think you'll like."

"Thanks, Hope!"

"There is just one catch: we leave after we have had breakfast."

"Leaving so soon? I guess, I was enjoying this place, that blue woman, this woman and all of the unique food, technology and peoples here."

"How are you leaving?" Tali interrupted.

"We have got transport off world, so it won't be a problem. And you?" Hope questioned.

"I have also got transport. I just came here to remember the good Shepard did for this colony."

"Please, do tell. Did it involve mass 'euthanasia' via a handy sidearm?"

"Why are you so darn prejudiced against your own auntie? Anyway, I assume you know what happened to the colony, with the Thorian infection. Well, when the Thorian exerted total control on the colonists, Shepard just killed off the infecting spores, sparing the people."

"Killing spores… that can't be done with a few gunshots."

"It could be done, and she did it."

After some more bickering, the rest of the party continued to wait for, and eventually, eat breakfast. As soon as it was finished, everyone stood up and bade Tali, Shiala and the other Feros colonists farewell.

Returning to the ship after a long walk, Hope directed the others to their quarters of the ship and found Legion analyzing their anti-Brand solution. "Brand Reduction Agent almost complete. Thorian cells successfully synthesized and introduced. Solution synthesis in progress and will complete in approximately 9 hours," it reported.

"Nine hours, that gives us enough time," Hope pondered aloud. "Legion, I've got a few things to report."

"Specify."

"I managed to copy some data off a quarian omni-tool. Not much though, but I thought you might want to have a look through it and see if anything catches your eye."

"Affirmative. Data analysis will begin after completion and testing of Brand Reduction Agent."

"Can we leave this planet? There is one last place I want to go."

"Please specify destination."

"Eden Prime."

"Hope has had little motivation to return to that world before. We question your change of heart."

"Vanille insisted. Besides, there is one person on that rock that I have to see one last time."

"Consensus achieved: we will fulfill Hope Estheim's request. Beginning ship startup and liftoff procedure now. ETA at Eden Prime: two hours. However, plan will be needed to circumvent security."

"Thanks, Legion."

Hope then brought up his omni-tool and started typing. After a few minutes, he clicked one option and the words "Message Sent" appeared on the screen. The message continued to stay in Hope's mind: "Dear Connor. I know it has been too long since we last spoke, but I couldn't transmit from where I was for the last three quarters of a year. I am coming home, and I hope to see you soon. Hope."

* * *

**End note: **I was, for a second, thinking that maybe Tali, via Snow or Vanille, be made aware of Hope's connections with the geth. However, I decided against it in the end; after all, the l'Cie have far too much on their plate to be hunted down as geth collaborators.


	9. Chapter 9: During the Tragedy: Part 8

Chapter 9: During the Tragedy part 8: Home bittersweet home

On a world distant from Cocoon and Gran Pulse, night had fallen on a colony. In only a moonlit sky, a boy could barely be seen running out of the colony into the open fields. Tonight was the night that his one wish would be granted, and the means of granting it was on its way.

Soon, he saw something blocking part of the starfield, and a loud droning sound started emanating from the sky. It got closer, and closer, and as the sound source descended, the boy could see what it was: a dark grey insect-shaped spaceship, visible only because of the light cast by the stars in the night sky. The ship came closer and closer to him until he could feel the winds created by its movement. Soon, it produced claws, and with them touching down on the ground, it landed in the open fields. A hatch opened on the lower bow shortly afterwards, and the light coming from inside revealed the silver-haired boy that the one in the fields had been hoping to meet.

"Hope?" the boy shouted.

"Hi, Connor," Hope responded. "I am really surprised that you are up this late."

"What do you mean 'this late'?" a female voice shouted. "We barely had breakfast a few hours ago!"

"Who is that?" Connor asked, taken aback by this new voice.

"Don't worry, she won't bite," Hope reassured. However, he soon ran towards his friend when he saw that he was struggling to stay on his feet.

"My apologies… so tired… I have been waiting an eternity for you."

"Come aboard then, Connor. You can rest in the ship. Besides, you look like you need it."

Connor was then led inside the ship and taken to one of the makeshift beds. The next thing he remembered was a woman, with… a unique clothing style… and red hair tied in ponytails, sitting by his side.

"Where is… Hope?" he mumbled.

"Don't worry, he's just stepped out for a minute. He decided to show everyone the colony and left me with you for when you woke up," the woman responded.

"Tis good to see his sympathy still knows no bounds, a trait for which I am thankful. I do not believe we know each other though, my name is Connor."

"Great to meet you. I'm Vanille."

"Vanille… that is a beautiful name. I bid you thanks for your hospitality."

"Not a problem, Connor. Can I just ask you one thing though?"

"Yes?"

"Word has it you and Hope were friends during his early childhood."

"Yes Vanille, we were indeed friends, along with a third."

"Who was the third?"

Just then, the ship doors could be heard opening, and a few minutes later, Hope stepped into the room. Upon seeing Connor, he walked towards him, embracing him in a hug.

"Connor?" Hope began.

"Yes, Hope?" came Connor's reply.

"I see you have met Vanille. Aside from her and the geth, there are five other people on board, and they wished to see the colony."

"Vanille told me that you were showing them around."

"Just the areas surrounding the ship. I have made no attempt to approach the colony itself. Would you kindly show them around? I can't come with for the time being due to… prior engagements."

"Tis understandable. I will do as you ask, although it is necessary to introduce me first."

Hope called the rest of his party into the room. "Connor…" he began, "…these are the people I've been traveling with. Vanille, you already know. The woman with pink hair is Lightning, the blond by her is Snow, the black-skinned man with the afro hairstyle is Sazh, the woman in blue by him is Fang and the brown haired man in glasses is Bartholomew, my… biological foster father. Can you please show them around Eden Prime? Like I said, I have other matters to attend to."

Shortly afterward, the group left the ship. Connor took the l'Cie and Bartholomew towards the Eden Prime colony, while Hope… walked off in another direction with the three bouquets of flowers from Feros and a sword.

Arriving at the outer areas of the colony, Connor ran into a problem: two Alliance Guards by the names of Biggs and Wedge. After a fairly loud argument, they were knocked unconscious from behind (as their attention was focused mainly on lecturing Connor about leaving during the night) by Lightning and Fang.

"Connor, I'm sorry, but there's something I gotta ask," Sazh began a few minutes later. "Hope looked really hurt when he left the ship. What is he doing and will he be okay?"

"Tis difficult to say, Sazh," Connor informed, "…but Sovereign's attack changed everything. I am willing to wager that even now, a year after the disastrous affair, the scars of that time are still fresh in the lives of the people here."

"Sovereign… that name was mentioned to us on Feros," Fang interrupted. "Just what is it to have people so bloody scared?"

"Is there a purpose behind that question? Because if not, tis preferable to leave it unanswered."

Fang then told Connor of the legend of Ragnarok, the l'Cie focus, and the response on Feros to Ragnarok

"That is an interesting story," was Connor's reply to this, "…and if what you say about Ragnarok piercing a hole in the side of this 'Cocoon' planet is true, its no surprise that it is compared with Sovereign. Very well, I shall tell you. Sovereign was a massive Reaper that nearly destroyed the colony of Eden Prime. All for one Prothean Beacon."

"Destroying a colony… that would take a lot of firepower," Lightning interjected. "It couldn't have just been one massive battleship."

"Twas just one ship. However, there were also ground forces, consisting of geth and… other monstrosities that slaughtered anyone that wasn't able to hide."

"Wait…" Snow burst out. "This attack… was it how Hope lost his parents?"

Meanwhile, at another point just outside the borders of the colony, Hope was kneeling at three graves. Looking at the first one, it read:

ALISTAIR SHEPARD.

He set one bouquet of flowers upon this grave, and then turned to the right of it, placing flowers on that grave as well, crying all the while.

ANDRASTE SHEPARD

Looking to the left of Alistair's tombstone, he placed the last bouquet on the grave there. He had begun sobbing by this point, becoming increasingly unable to hold back the tidal wave of sadness that was looming. After much time, Hope, in tears, put the sword on the grave as well, such that if there were a body there, it might have been holding the weapon in his hands.

OREN COUSLAND

"I remember your dream, Oren," Hope sobbed. "I finally brought you a real one. A real sword. I just wish – I just wish you were here to hold it! Oren… Mom… Dad… I miss you so much! If only I hadn't found that blasted beacon, then you would still be… you'd still be… I'm so sorry! I never wanted to believe it… but I think it's my fault that Sovereign attacked us! It's my fault that Sovereign took you away from me! I'm so… so sorry. Especially you, Oren. So soon. It wasn't your time to die! And Mom… Dad… impaled on those giant spikes. I heard what happened to you, and you didn't deserve being turned into those monstrosities! **It's not fair**!"

From there, Hope's tears just streamed out, and he knelt on all fours by the three graves. Suddenly, in the midst of his sorrow, he felt an arm on him. Looking to see who it was, he was shocked to find Fang of all people.

"F-Fang?"

"Just let it out, kid."

"But – but – why are you here?"

"That's not important right now. Just hold on to me as tight as you wish. Don't worry, times like this I have no right to judge you."

"Hope!" Vanille's voice broke out, also sounding on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry about this. If I'd known that coming back here was so painful, I wouldn't have pressured you about it."

"How did… you know I was here?" Hope questioned.

"Two things…" came the voice of Sazh. "First, I myself am a father. I can spot a child in pain a mile away. I just kept quiet because I could feel that you didn't want word of this to get around. Secondly, Connor told us where he thought you'd be."

"I appreciate the thought, but I need to handle this alone!"

"Listen to me Hope…" Lightning spoke. "I know _exactly_ what losing your parents is like. I too have had to suffer the same fate, and I know from experience that you_ cannot_ shoulder that pain alone."

"So… your parents are here?" Snow wondered.

"No, Snow, they aren't!" Hope shouted, his voice still shaking heavily. "Only Oren's here, and that was because I got to his body before the Alliance did. My mother and father… their corpses were taken by the Alliance for study."

"Why would this Alliance do that?"

"They suffered a fate far, far worse than death. They were impaled on giant spikes by heretic geth, and they suffered a slow, grim transformation into horrible monstrosities! I only saw footage from security cameras after the attack on the colony, but from what I did see, they, along with so many other people, were rendered mindless electric husks. These things lost all traces of their humanity and just ended up indistinguishable from each other, left to murder and be murdered by their own… by their own… damn it! **Damn it!**"

"Don't worry, Hope, you are not going to go through this ordeal alone," Lightning reassured him. She, Fang, Sazh, Snow, Vanille, Connor and Bartholomew stayed with Hope for as long as he was at the graves.

The light started fading, and Connor took the party back to his house. Silenced reigned for quite a while, as Hope didn't seem to want to talk at all, and neither did anyone else.

"I'm coming with you," Connor eventually spoke.

"Are you sure, Connor?" Hope wondered.

"Yes. As much as I try to deny it, tis obvious that I cannot stay here either."

"I'm not too sure that I believe you. You seem to have held up much better than I did after Oren's death."

"I had to stay strong for you. The ordeal had left you with nobody, and I didn't want to leave your side for a moment, lest you be overcome by the desire to… to…"

"I… didn't know. I'm sorry, Connor."

"No apologies are necessary, fellow Lone Voice in the Dark. I couldn't call myself your friend if I chose not to help you through, no matter how badly I was hurting inside. I was fine when Legion took you away from this world; twas clear that the catastrophe continued to poison your very soul."

"And you fear that your own soul might be poisoned as well."

"Yes, Hope. Each day on my own since then had left me empty inside. Although we could still keep in radio contact, it didn't feel the same. It was like I lost you as well, and when you dropped out of contact, I feared the worst. So great was my fear that I almost lapsed into a coma."

"Don't worry, I think there is room on the ship for one more, but we need to figure out a plan to keep your parents from worrying."

"Thanks, Hope. At last the Lone Voices in the Dark will shoot for the stars!"

"Lone Voices in the Dark?" Vanille wondered.

"Twas the name we had for our little group," Connor supplied. "Me, Hope and Oren. We named ourselves that way because, out of everyone we met, only the three of us could voice what we truly felt without being regarded as insane. We were the only ones willing to listen to the other, hence 'Lone Voices in the Dark'. Hope was the technological prodigy, I was a firm believer in magic and the late Oren was aspiring to be a swordsman."

"That explains the sword at his grave."

"Yes. But now, although that number has decreased by one, I can see some light, it has increased to seven. Nine if you include the geth and that other man."

"Seven? Does that mean the other five are?"

"Yes. I regard you five as fellow Lone Voices in the Dark, as you are willing to listen and respond to Hope's cry for company, willing to show that you aren't willing to just sit idly by."

"Wow, thanks, Connor."

"Everyone, Legion has messaged me," Hope interrupted. "The Brand Reduction Agent is ready to test. We need to get back to the ship."


	10. Chapter 10: During the Tragedy: Part 9

Chapter 10: During the Tragedy part 9: Focus of Destruction

Back at the geth ship, Legion had managed to successfully synthesize a gel with the Thorian samples, the Brand skin samples and various other materials. It had already sent out the message to Hope and was waiting for the l'Cie to return. Hope had, however, replied with a reckless-sounding request: to hack into the Eden Prime Alliance database.

Hope and the l'Cie soon re-entered the geth ship, and immediately moved to see Legion. It then led them to the area of the ship which held the equipment and the first synthesis of the Brand Reduction Agent Gel, or as it was shortened to, BRA-gel.

"Farron-Sergeant, Oerba Yun Fang," Legion suddenly commanded, "…restrain Villiers, Snow, but leave his left forearm exposed!"

"Wait, why me?" Snow roared as he was put into an arm-lock by Fang and had his left arm held in place by Lightning.

"Villiers, Snow is test subject for Brand Reduction Agent."

"What about Sazh and Vanille? They are here now, so why not them?"

"Experimentation on Oerba Dia Vanille would trigger hostility of Oerba Yun Fang and may result in armed conflict. Katzroy, Sazh is also unfit for experimentation as doing so unnecessarily on his Brand has a higher risk of internal organ damage. Hope, we require you to be on standby with an application of medi-gel."

"I've already got one ready to go!" Hope stated, readying his omni-tool.

"Readying omni-tool for deployment of gel. Application will happen in three…" Legion began counting down. Everyone held their breath.

"…Two…" Snow hoped he was going to be okay.

"…One." Legion's omni-tool rammed onto Snow's l'Cie Brand, whereupon he began screaming such that, were it not for the room being soundproofed, someone outside the ship might have heard. A split second after Legion applied his omni-tool, it withdrew and commanded Hope to apply the medi-gel. It all happened in a matter of seconds, as Hope applied the medi-gel to Snow's Brand and, as a result, got him to stop screaming.

Looking at the Brand, there were less arrows, and the eye was almost closed… but it looked like that was just how they looked before leaving Cocoon. From there, Sazh followed, then Lightning, and Vanille, all of whom had the BRA-gel applied to their Brands and screamed in pain until the application of the medi-gel by Hope. Finally, it was the turn of the young l'Cie, who relinquished medi-gel duty to Connor.

The BRA-gel was applied, and Hope could feel a massive searing pain where it had contacted, akin to his wrist being wrapped in a hot iron. The pain was immense, but ceased after feeling a much cooler gel on his wrist. He found that his Brand had also regressed to its earlier stage. "Okay, the procedure was quite painful, but hopefully with this, we can be relatively free," he sighed in relief as Connor left the room.

"How far has the regression of Hope's l'Cie Brand reached?" Legion wondered.

"Up to the point before we left Cocoon, I think."

"Aforementioned scenario of 'freedom' is therefore implausible."

"Why? As long as we can keep the supply of gels running-"

"Based on research results, administration of second dosage of Brand Reduction Agent can only happen after five days. Earlier administration would result in neural destruction of the surrounding tissue."

"What! No, there must be something we can do! We were so close to breaking these godforsaken chains! Isn't there something more we can do, something we might have overlooked?"

"Only remaining course of action is to carry out Focus."

"Hope! I see something tis important!" Connor suddenly shouted from elsewhere in the ship.

"Not now, Connor!" Hope shouted back.

"Just come here and gaze upon what I found. Bring the geth and l'Cie as well!"

When everyone was at Connor's location, he began talking to Hope: "Cross-reference the data on the fal'Cie Carbuncle with the data I just gifted you."

"Fine," Hope sighed, not expecting anything to come of it now that their most promising endeavor had fallen short. "What data did you upload, Connor?"

"Look at the screen, Hope!"

"Yes, it… it can't be. The functions are different."

"The genetic structure! Tis important to look at the genetic structure. The surface functions may be different, but thou must look at the underlying blueprint!"

"Fine, have it… wait a second… it can't be!" Hope suddenly realized.

"Yes, the underlying genetic structure is exactly the same, yet the fal'Cie looks like a less refined version," Connor continued.

"Of what?"

"The keepers. The Citadel's keepers."

"Impossible. How did you get readings of the keepers?"

"A lone salarian scientist kept trying to show off his findings to his research group, and twas fortunate that I was inside the network at the time, but that's unimportant. The good sir's findings indicate that the keepers are genetically constructed by the same people who made Sovereign."

"Analysis of Hope Estheim's quarian data complete. Data is relevant to this discussion," Legion interjected. "Uploading acquired data to mainframe now."

From there, screens came up of records taken on Ilos a year ago. Those records detailed the events of the Prothean genocide, of the Citadel and of the keepers. "I thought so! I knew it!" Connor yelled.

"Knew what? Stop making a scene and just tell us!" Fang shouted.

"Your fal'Cie are prototypes! Prototypes for the Citadel's keepers, they who were fathered by the Reapers. Hope, tell me what you know of the labors of the Cocoon and Pulse fal'Cie!"

"They Brand l'Cie with different marks, but otherwise, from what I understand, the Cocoon ones fulfilled different functions such as providing infinite food, power and light, and even controlling the weather, but I don't know about the Pulse ones, though. You'd have to ask either Fang or Vanille."

"But the more useful ones were on Cocoon. They were the more useful prototypes. But I know not why they would…"

"Connor… are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"The truths presented to our eyes here tell me that the fal'Cie, the perfect world of Cocoon, even the planetoid itself… is a construct of the Reapers! We have to get back and set things straight now!"

"Entry into Eden Prime Alliance database achieved," Legion announced.

Some time later during the evening, Connor was with his parents at home, packing up his possessions, and there was an Alliance officer present. "What do you mean he has to leave?" his mother shouted.

"He has been selected for a training program on medicine. We have already received his consent," the Alliance officer responded.

"Connor is nowhere near old enough for that. Just who signed him up?!"

"As a matter of fact, it was Captain Hannah Shepard of the Orizaba. That's where he will be serving."

"This is preposterous, Lieutenant."

"I'm a Sergeant. His recruitment for the program has already been approved, and we have his consent. He is packing his clothes already as you can see."

"But this is insane. Since when does the Alliance just draft in _children_ from out of nowhere?"

"The young Mr. Guerrin found one of our locally-based medical training programs, and after what we have seen of his progress cross-referenced with his background history, we would prefer to have him tested away from an area that was recently a source of trauma for the boy."

"This is insane. At least promise to let him call us."

"That seems like a reasonable request, although discretion will be left to him. Are you ready to go, young man?"

"Yes, Sergeant," Connor responded, having finished packing. Him and the Alliance officer were soon walking through the entrance to the colony. "Oy, ma'am, you sure you should be leaving at this time of night?" a voice sounded. Turning to look, Connor saw the Alliance officers Biggs and Wedge.

"I'm just taking the boy on a short stroll, Biggs. I still have some time before I need to be back in the air."

"Sure, take your time, just don't take too long."

Connor and the Sergeant continued walking into the countryside. Once a landed geth ship came into view, she took off her helmet, revealing long pink hair.

"I think that went fairly well, don't you, Sergeant Farron?" Hope's voice resonated from the ship.

* * *

**End note:**I felt that there just had to be a Biggs and Wedge couple in FF13, but I couldn't find them in the game. Otherwise, with the plot twist about the Reapers, the perfect world of Cocoon seemed to be a little too perfect for my liking. Yes there are sometimes Pulse fal'Cie that infiltrate Cocoon and other fal'Cie wanting to bring back the Maker, but beyond that, what else? I hope you enjoyed so far.


	11. Chapter 11: During the Tragedy: Part 10

Chapter 11: During the Tragedy part 10: Cocoon of oblivion

Back in the Cocoon skies, war was raging. A sub-faction of the Guardian Corps had assumed that the Primarch had abducted their comrade using the strange ship. The Sanctum Skyfleet, or what remained of it after the geth attack, was in a fierce battle with ships belonging to the sub-faction, led by the airship Lindblum. The Palamecia, despite the amount of damage inflicted on it by the geth ship, was somehow still functional, albeit as little more than a floating wreck.

A flash had appeared in the sky, and from it, the geth ship descended. A message had, somehow, been sent to the ship instructing the l'Cie to meet the Primarch on the Palamecia's bridge. Seeing no other way to resolve the Focus, the subjects in question resolved to comply with the demand, having the ship destroy the hull near the location.

As the l'Cie left, Connor could only worry about what would happen to his best friend. As a precaution, he had Hope open a permanent comm. channel to his omni-tool. From there, Connor learned that the Primarch Dysley was in fact the fal'Cie Barthandelus, the Lord Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie (the child flinching at the word 'Sovereign'), and also that the focus of the l'Cie was to destroy Cocoon, and finish the job of the Pulse l'Cie of so long ago.

A ship had been ejected from there soon after, and the geth ship attempted pursuit, although after a while, some forces were blocking its course. Legion saw no other choice but to eradicate the attackers. Although this didn't take too long, Connor was a bit worried. Although young and a firm believer in magic, he wasn't stupid. The ambition that this fal'Cie had coincided in some respect with what a Reaper might do. Some of the quarian data captured by Hope indicated part of a conversation with something saying 'Some worlds were utterly destroyed'.

Things only got even more uncomfortable from there. Connor, being open to many possibilities, wondered about many things. Was this 'Barthandelus' character a backup plan for the return of the Reapers if Sovereign failed? Was the Focus to become Ragnarok part of a plot to summon another Reaper to complete what Sovereign couldn't? Would the destruction of Cocoon possibly create a backlash of energy to the Citadel to kick-start the Mass Relay function that Hope's stolen data named? Or was the whole thing, Cocoon, a backup entry point through which the Reapers could invade should the Citadel fail completely? Especially with this thing called the 'Maker', if the fal'Cie was trying to call it back… the Maker that created the fal'Cie, the fal'Cie possibly being prototypes of the keepers, the very same keepers that were created by the Reapers... just what was Cocoon for? The only thing that Connor was certain of after a few hours was the fact that, with this Maker very possibly being a Reaper, the Cocoon fal'Cie were probably trying to summon back the Reapers in some way, shape or form.

Hope was having other problems. He had arrived on Gran Pulse, along with the other l'Cie, and was off gathering food. Sazh's pet Chocobo chick was keeping him company, but the whole situation was getting to him. On the previous area, his knowledge of and skills with technology had proved all but useless. He was stranded, along with other people, in the middle of a wildlife-infested, hostile albeit beautiful land in the middle of nowhere. Here, there were no machines he could make work, no technology that he could experiment with, nothing useful he could possibly bring back to the geth. All he had was his customized boomerang retrofitted with geth technology, a few magic tricks and maybe a moving target in the form of his custom combat drone. There was nothing to hack into, no weapons that could be manipulated… nothing. Just about everything that the young boy regarded as his forte was useless here. If things carried on like this, Hope felt, then he would probably either get someone hurt, or his ineptitude in these areas would get him kicked out. He could just see the conversation now, with Fang saying that he's dragging all of them down and should be left behind, and Lightning repeating what she said about not having 'time to baby you. You want to get tough? Do it on your own!' with the pleas of the rest of the party coming to no effect.

From there, Hope kept asking himself, not noticing a rapidly growing light on his arm, "Why did this happen to me? Why did any of this happen in the first place? Just where, in the middle of this godforsaken jungle, are we supposed to go now?" Tears kept streaming from his face, and as a result, things were getting blurry such that he thought nothing of the brightening yellow light on his arm, dismissing it as the violent Pulsian sun.

The next thing he knew, it was sunset, and everyone was discussing one last place to go. The answer, somehow, lay in his head, and he voiced what thoughts were in his mind: "Oerba, the place it all began. The place where the Pulse fal'Cie lay dreaming. Vanille and Fang's home. Maybe that will be the place where we find the answers we're looking for."

"Yeah right, if we can get there," Fang spoke up. Hope could just sense 'that' conversation approaching from her tone, so he made the first move, to stop the heated argument and dismissal before it started.

"Go on without me."

"We can't just leave you!" Vanille protested. How very much like her, he thought, not wanting to just abandon her friend despite maybe being forced to do so in the near future.

"I'll be fine. You've all taught me so much, showed me how to fight," he tried to reassure not only Vanille, but also everyone. It clearly showed, however, that he himself did not believe this to be true, mainly the 'I'll be fine' part, because he stumbled and had to be caught by Snow.

"What did I tell you? Leave the fighting to me." Snow could be such an idiot sometimes. If Hope did that, then eventually, someone was going to call him out for being supposedly lazy, which would then proceed to get him forced out. But when he tried to say this, all that came out was "I'm scared."

"We understand. You're not going to go through this ordeal alone, you know," Lightning tried to reassure him, even touching his chin and motioning him to look at her smiling face. Oh, how smiles could be deceitful at times, in this case for masking discontent or displaying naïveté, probably the former since Lightning was a soldier. The only smiles that Hope knew marked genuine happiness or cheer were those from his childhood friends; others were just there for display to make him think all was well. He felt that no matter what she said now, she would still want him gone within the first few kilometers into the wilderness.

"But that's what scares me! I don't- I don't want to see you get hurt because of me. It would be better for everyone if I just stayed behind!" he announced. What part of that wasn't true at this point? Snow could fight with his fists, and his body was clearly conditioned to a battlefield due to him having taken a lot of punishment. Lightning had trained as a soldier and most likely have had some training in wilderness survival. Vanille was a native to this world, so she knew probably most or all of what there is to know about the various tricks and traps waiting in the wilderness. Fang was also that, along with having lots of experience in surviving these types of ecosystems and with a strong body and admirable weapon skill to boot. Sazh… well, at very least, he had a weapon of choice that would be considered practical for a situation like this. Hope… what's to say about him? He had a frail body, skills that were of no use here and a weapon that seems quite laughable despite his tinkering. He could only see himself as deadweight. That was when his Brand lit up, created a strange aura and exhumed a giant greenish-yellow beast, an Eidolon.

"Mention ordeals, and look what comes along!" Fang shouted, jumping in front of the Eidolon with her spear at the ready. Why was she doing this, Hope thought. Surely, she would have been the one to criticize his lack of skill in this area? Yet for some reason, she was jumping to his side.

"This is not an ordeal! This is a gift! Hope, this is the kind of power you've got inside, and it's telling you not to give up! Trust me," Lightning was also there, her sword at the ready. Okay, maybe Lightning he could understand rushing to fight alongside him because he was with her for a few days, but still. Sooner or later, the lack of performance would have driven her to exile Hope from their group.

"Oh, I get it. It's here to show you the way. Show you that you've got what it takes to get back on your feet and do this thing!" Was Fang still insisting on defending him despite how she would inevitably grow tired of having to protect him? Or could he have actually been wrong about his companions' intentions? Yes, it happened once before when he first revealed his secret of being in league with the geth, but that was just pure luck, wasn't it? Not only did they have no background as to how the geth were viewed in the galaxy, they were all forced to band together due to being fugitives. Now, with no external societal pressures forcing them together, he would certainly be banished in this hostile environment. Surely him being wrong a second time wouldn't have happened? He was right to assume that he would just be unrecognized by his own people for what he was, his feeling that the Council would just sweep Sovereign under the rug was confirmed by Tali even though he wanted to believe that wasn't the case, and he had at least a year of evidence to prove he was right to predict that people wouldn't give him any credit for finding the Eden Prime Prothean beacon and would instead soak up all the praise for themselves. He was right about so many other things, only really being wrong in that one situation about his companions and the geth ship. Surely, he couldn't have been wrong about people twice in a row… could he?

It was that uncertainty, and also a feeling of happiness that there were people willing to stand by him even if just for a short while, that drove him to join Lightning and Fang in the fight. As they brought his Eidolon to heel together, he was amazed. Fang taking most, if not all of the punishment and Lightning helping heal him amid attacking the monster helped to convince him that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't get thrown to the denizens of the wild like he feared.

After that, they finally moved toward Oerba, with Hope actually feeling somewhat more comfortable as they journeyed onward. From the darkness of the Pulse tunnels, to a tower guarded by a fierce fal'Cie, the moment he had dreaded hadn't come to pass. He actually found something when they got to Oerba: the tech-scan function on his omni-tool was picking up two things. The first was the small robot Bhakti, which sadly gave out after being discovered, but was soon repaired by the efforts of Sazh. Hope wasn't really there for Bhakti's rebirth, though, he was finding the second thing highlighted by his tech-scan function.

Vanille soon found him and noticed the object he was staring at. "We never really knew what that was. Whenever anyone touched it, they were given strange visions similar to a Focus vision, but with no Brand. After a while, we just worshipped this thing as an idol."

"Vanille…" Hope spoke, "…this is not just an idol. This is a Prothean beacon!" He saw the green holographic console, and began tapping at it. The beacon lit up with a green light, he rose into the air and orange images began streaming through his head. The Reapers, the Protheans, the black world, he saw it all again. When Hope landed on the ground, the rest of the party had arrived. He relayed his observation to the rest of them, and Fang seemed quite intrigued to know that, in their village all along, was a beacon of a long-dead alien race.

A short while afterwards, however, they ran into Barthandelus again. From there, they were directed to go back to Cocoon, and Hope relayed a message to Legion to prepare for battle and go to Eden. On the geth ship, Legion wasn't the only one who saw the call to war. Connor and Bartholomew had also seen it, and they were just hoping that Hope was going to be okay.

Eden soon came under attack from the six l'Cie, backed up by each of their Eidolons. Hope shortly moved to a separate area to block off incoming Sanctum Forces, and was quickly joined by Legion in the geth ship firing siege pulses into the fleet. In addition to having his Eidolon attack, Hope was tapping away madly on his omni-tool, with bursts of electricity exploding from the Sanctum's mechs. Ship systems of the Sanctum airships also began failing, most likely due to Legion being hard at work inside the geth ship. Pulsian beasts and machines had also begun invading at that point

Eventually, regrouping with the other l'Cie, the geth ship continued to distract and destroy any large fleets of Sanctum airships that crossed their path. The l'Cie themselves pressed on into Eden, into the strange pocket dimension known as Orphan's Cradle.

Upon reaching the center of the dimension, they were confronted by Barthandelus for a third time, who eventually sank defeated into a pool of liquid at their destination. He later re-emerged merged as part of a greater fal'Cie, Orphan, the one who kept Cocoon afloat in the Pulsian sky. Hope tried to get a scan of Orphan, and from there cross-referenced it with Connor's findings. Orphan appeared to be the closest match to a perfect maintenance fal'Cie, and the one whose DNA was the closest match to the Citadel keepers.

Chaos erupted soon afterward, with Fang insisting that she will obey the fal'Cie's wishes to become Ragnarok and destroy it, with her seemingly mutated form failing to even touch it. Hope and the others were also transformed into Cie'th, but, amid the primal new instincts he felt, he could also feel something cool, yet hot enough to cause searing pain, on his left wrist. Memories of the whole tragedy began flashing through his mind: from him losing his parents on the giant spikes, to him retrieving and burying the body of his friend and aspiring swordsman Oren Cousland. More memories flooded from there: the Reaper, running away from the colony, infiltrating the geth ship, meeting Legion, traveling to distant worlds in search of Leliana Shepard, the crash-landing on Cocoon, meeting Nora and Bartholomew Estheim, being thrown on the Purge train, meeting Vanille, meeting the other l'Cie, almost killing Snow Villiers, bringing the l'Cie into his _true_ home, rescuing Vanille and Sazh, rescuing and reuniting with Connor, the Brand Reduction Agent, the Prothean visions…

Before he knew it, he was once again in the chamber of Orphan, with the area around his Brand burning. It soon struck him that the area in question was where he had applied the Brand countermeasure, so it made sense that the agent was still at work to prevent his mutation into a total monster. Similar areas were glowing on his Cie'th compatriots, who began returning to their original forms of Lightning, Snow and Sazh. Another battle with Orphan soon took place, with the combined efforts of the six l'Cie destroying him for good.

Back in the geth ship, Legion was detecting a planetoid-wide power loss. What was more, was that the Cocoon planetoid itself was starting to descend towards Pulse, gaining speed ever so slowly and combusting in the atmosphere. Waves of flame were visible emanating from the southern pole of Cocoon, but as the geth ship left the area inside of the planetoid, Connor spotted something: a blue light at the core of the now red husk. Only one thing could produce that kind of light: a Mass Relay. On top of that, small crystalline fragments were appearing, which Legion's ship identified as a strange, almost nonexistent crystal: lyrium.

"Warning," Legion spoke into the communications system, confirming Connor's worst fears. "Hidden Mass Relay powering up. Lyrium presence gravitating towards Relay Core. Power at thirty-four percent. Range has been calculated to encompass Citadel. Range increasing. Correlation detected: Relay power increases range. Power at forty percent. Possibility of Old Machine return imminent."


	12. Chapter 12: After the Tragedy

Chapter 12: After the Tragedy

Cocoon was falling, the blue light at the core was getting bigger and the geth ship was leaving the planetoid. Before long, however, a new lifeform emerged on the scanners. It soon seemed to plunge from the central area down to the southern pole of Cocoon. After bursting through the molten surface, several hands appeared, and apparently tried to hold back the falling world. Even more hands appeared to stall the descent, along with spires of crystal from Pulse itself. Cocoon still kept melting and descending despite crystalline liquid flowing all over the planetoid. Burning fireballs kept descending from the crystal, but soon there was a huge roar, after which the crystalline tower exploded at the base of Cocoon and at the base of Pulse. The crystal liquid over the rest of Cocoon started behaving strangely as well, as if there were figures made of this liquid dancing on the surface, and winds blew even more lyrium dust to the falling planetoid.

By the end of it, the geth ship, along with Legion, Connor and Bartholomew, were gazing on a Cocoon that seemed to be completely suspended by solid pillars, and with new, dancing figures on the surface, both comprised of this rare lyrium crystal. "Interference detected in Cocoon Mass Relay power supply," Legion stated. "Power at thirty one percent. Scanning… Relay circuitry jammed by lyrium crystal blockage. Power redirected to crystal pillars as a result. Power at twenty two percent. Cocoon Mass Relay powering down."

Legion soon detected Hope's omni-tool signature on the lands of Gran Pulse near the pillar. The geth ship landed there just as Hope was telling Snow that he didn't waste any time. While the two new arrivals at the ship, Serah and Dajh, were somewhat scared, they were quickly calmed down by the four l'Cie there. Or rather, the four former l'Cie. Legion, Bartholomew and Connor emerged from the ship, and immediately asked where Fang and Vanille were. Hope told them everything; how those two became Ragnarok (pointing out that Legion was actually correct in saying it wasn't a Reaper), and how they suspended Cocoon, saving the world as a result and creating a new one. Legion also added what it knew of them jamming the Relay and stopping the return of the Reapers.

"So they didn't just save us… they saved the galaxy at large," Hope said, in awe.

"What now, Hope?" Snow asked. "You gonna join us for the wedding?"

"Honestly, Snow, I don't know."

"What about that Pro-whatever beacon in Oerba?"

"Again, I don't know. If I inform the Alliance about this, they'll just descend like vultures again. I also doubt if the geth can get any use out of it, so for now, I think it will stay right where it is."

"Still, what's on the agenda now, kid?" Sazh asked.

"Like I said, Sazh, I don't know. Originally, we just crash-landed here. The only reason my foster mother took me to Bodhum was because of the fireworks display so we could celebrate. By then, our ship had been completed. If I hadn't gone there, Legion and I would probably be somewhere else in the galaxy right about now."

"We're still glad you were with us. Just don't forget that."

"I'm actually happy that I went with you on that trip. The amount of things I was able to do exceeded even my calculations, and not only did I learn something new with regard to my skill-sets, I'm beginning to wonder if I may be wrong about my initial judgments on the human race."

"Does that mean you're willing to rejoin your people?"

"No. Legion and the geth are the only ones who recognize my efforts, aside from you. It will take a lot more from them to make me want to rejoin the Systems Alliance."

"Have you thought about staying here, then?" Lightning came in.

"Yes I have, Light, but I won't be staying."

"Why not? Your expertise will be needed here!"

"Like I said, it's going to take me quite some time before I am ready to return to my people. These refugees are more than capable technologically to repopulate in Gran Pulse if you are worried about that, they'll just need someone to lead them. Also, there is a possibility that they still hold a grudge against us."

"But why are you leaving us during this crucial time?"

"Besides, Fang and Vanille have shown me something. I may be just one tech expert, but I can definitely try and do my part with the geth to stop the Reapers. My late auntie Shepard stopped Sovereign from using the Citadel to allow the Reapers to return, Fang and Vanille stopped Cocoon from becoming a Mass Relay that would have allowed the Reapers to invade. They may have other contingency plans, though; they aren't known for their carelessness. The Citadel Council has just swept the Reaper mess under the carpet, so Legion and I are the only ones who can stop any future invasion attempts. Why don't you all come with me?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. You said it yourself; these people will need someone to lead them. I need to help my home adapt."

"As much as I'd like to come with, kid," Sazh sighed, "…I've got a son to raise, and I'd rather he be on firm ground."

"Serah and I have a lot of catching up to do, so I can't come. But won't you at least come back to say hi every once in a while?" Snow shouted.

"Maybe, once the Reapers are gone for good, maybe then I can return to Pulse," Hope stated. "Until then, I need to do whatever I can to stop life in this galaxy from being extinguished. That, in itself, will be in a miracle, but you, my friends and fellow Lone Voices in the Dark, have shown me that it is possible. This endeavor I hereby name Operation Ragnarok in honor of the two friends who saved us all!"

"Hope," Lightning tried to speak.

"Snow, Serah, you have my blessings. Sazh, stay close to your son, and if he has any bright ideas, keep an open mind to them. Light… please protect everyone here while I'm gone."

"We are required elsewhere, Hope," Legion spoke from inside the ship. "Finalize any plans now."

"Hope… tis my wish to remain on Pulse," Connor spoke up. "The existence of magic has my soul rejuvenated."

"I'd like to remain as well, my son," Bartholomew Estheim also spoke. "Connor is most likely going to need guidance, and I'm sure I'll still be needed here."

"Okay, Connor… Dad. I'll try and keep in contact with everyone," Hope sighed. For the first time in a long time, he was actually going to miss the people on the world he departed. As Connor and Bartholomew got out of the ship and joined Lightning, Serah, Snow, Dajh and Sazh, he rejoined Legion. "Goodbye everyone."

With everyone down below saying farewell to him, he and Legion withdrew into the ship, with food stocks resupplied and all systems functional. The geth ship left the wild lands of Gran Pulse into the sky, and eventually through the Mass Relay in the system toward their next objective. Though he may return to this world one day, and although he felt very sad about leaving everyone behind, he felt his decision to leave now was fully justified. He was making a difference with the geth, much more than he might have made with the Cocoon resettlers, and he needed to fight the Reapers in his late aunt's stead. He was not at home with the people of Cocoon, as they had at least 500 years of prejudice instilled into their very core, nor was he at home with the fetid and untamed lands of Gran Pulse.

He had ultimately taken the decision to leave both worlds because he was, truly, not of either world.

* * *

**Final End Note:** Although this is the end of this story, given some time, I should be back with a sequel to this. As for mentioning the Lyrium crystal, normally a Dragon Age mineral, I couldn't see any of the Mass Effect minerals working here, and I wasn't sure if there was any Final Fantasy 13 mineral that would have worked. Lyrium seemed a perfect match, as it was (to my mind) clearly known to have magical properties. Otherwise, I hope you have enjoyed reading this, and I will hopefully (again) be back with that sequel I mentioned before long.


End file.
